



GGS 

AMD 

EGG FARMS 



RLLIABLE Pol/LTRY JOURNAL 

PVBLiShINQ C?' 
QyiNCY-lLL-y-5-A- 





THE FRUITS 

OF ... . 

POULTRY RAISING. 



GG FA.m. 



^ .^ DEVOTED TO ^ ^ 



INCREASED - EGG 
PRODUCTION ^ ^ 



Contributed to by Expert Authorities and Successful Breeders, who furnish Life-long Experi- 
ences in the Production of Eggs, Methods of Feeding, Market Requirements, and Desirable 
Breeds for the Farm and Fancier. J-^^J-^^^^J-^^,^^ 



FULLY ILLUSTRATEDo 



PRICE, FIFTY CENTS. 



PUBLISHED BY 

THE RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, 

QUINCY, ILLINOIS. 



/ 



Twc Copies Racoiffld 

JUN 29 1903 

fcLASS ^ XXc Ne. 



COPYRIGHTED BY 

RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUBLISHING CO., 

QUINCY, ILLINOIS, 

JUNE, 1903. 



INTRODUCTORY 




EGGS p5* EGG FARMS 




The Egg Market is Boundless, Remunerative and Easily Reached, but You Must Know How. 
The Mainstay of the Poultry Business is the Egg Trade. 




TRIKE the average of figures that have been 
hashed up again and again to support the con- 
tention that there is money in poultry, and you 
may bank upon it they are in the main correct. 
There have been many failures on the ragged 
edge of the business and still they come. The facts are these: 
It is true there is money in poultry; it Is true that the 
business is an attractive one, and the number of people who 
are continually attsmpting to 
get at the profits, is evidence 
that they are deeply impressed 
■with some such facts. 

Years ago Mr. Rankin 
who is well known to every 
poultryman, said that he made 
more money from 350 pullets, 
than from 1<5 cows. It takes 
two men and a team to care 
for the cows and deliver the 
milk: while one man can eas- 
ily get around the work con- 
nected with the 350 pullets, 
and yet, farmers will keep 
working away with their cows 
from four o'clock in the morn- 
ing until after dark at night, 
and spending on hired help 
money that might go into 
their pockets. 

Breeding hogs has not 
been remunerative for the past 
two years at least. In company 
■with one of the best posted 
breeders and experts in the 
country we have, during that 
time, visited many farmers' 
gatherings where the subject 
has turned upon hog raising. 
Try as they would, expert 

after expert, they could not ning puiiet*. o™ 

show such profit in the business as would warrant continu- 
ing it. The lecturers themselves "acknowledged the corn," 
and said they did not pretend that it paid to raise hogs, but 
farmers -would do It, and they were there to instruct them In 
the cheaper methods of carrying it on. It was easy 
talking poultry after that. 




THE KIND THE HOUSEKEEPER SELECTS. 

dozen Minorca eggs which weigh two pounds. Laid hy 

ning pullets, owned by J. H. Doane. 



Poultry Beats Them All. 
Hogs, sheep, cattle, horses, all received attention in the 
discussions, and it seemed to be upon the closest margin 
of profit, if any, that they were bred. We remember in 
particular a farmer who became interested in fowls, and 
was prevailed upon to give them such care as he gave hla 
hogs. He placed his fo-wls in the basement of the barn 
alongside the swine and horses. That was in the late fall. 
Soon they began shelling out 
j', , the eggs, and from that time 

kept his wife busy going to 
market to sell the new-Iald 
product. She obtained a good 
price for the eggs, as she mar- 
keted them regularly and the 
purchasers knew they were to 
be relied upon. Shortly the 
farmer began to have doubts 
about his hogs, and -we noticed 
that upon entering the barn 
he usually passed the pen of 
fowls and took up his troubled 
stand opposite the hog pen. 
Doubts had arisen in his mind 
whether or not the hogs were 
paying, and being an intelli- 
gent man, he made up his 
mind to settle the question. 
He said he would weigh the 
tiogs and keep account of the 
food for a month or so. When 
asked what was his idea, he 
responded, "Well, I bellere 
these fowls pay me 'way ahead 
of the hogs, and I tell you 
what it is, I am going to make 
sure, and if I find my Idea l« 
correct at the end of the 
month, out go the hogs." It 
is needless to say the hogs 
went, and now he is a confirmed chicken crank and making 
money at it, that is, he and his wife are. We could go on 
multiplying such instances indefinitely, but are satisfied to 
take it for granted that people now know there is money in 
poultry, and to rest the case -with those who so admirably 
present their experiences in subsequent pages. 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



The Demand Unceasing. 

It is intended in this book to relate what we linow — to 
Induce experienced breeders to tell what they know — and to 
present to you as clearly as possible w^hat you want to know 
about egg-production. There are two ways to gain experi- 
ence profitably: First, by beginning on a small scale and 
growing with the business. Second, by obtaining informa- 
tion under the practical tuition of successful poultrymen. 

To either or both of these methods let us add the in- 
struction which can be obtained cheaply by reading the best 
books on the subject. 

The egg market holds firm notwithstanding booms and 
failures in other businesses. You say, "If it is so remuner- 
ative, why is the market not overdone?" 

There are two main reasons: 

First— (and even the men in the business acknowledge 
this): The consumer entertains doubt as to the quality of 
the goods, but will buy an increased amount if convinced 
that the article is just what is wanted. 

Did you ever see a man taking breakfast in a hotel, 
supremely satisfied that the egg in front of him was 
perfectly fresh? There is always a doubt of it. Yet good 
prices are paid for this delicacy (for a new-laid egg is a del- 
icacy even these days), and in most cases the landlord is 
just as expectant as his guests. Who can be otherwise, when 
in every grocery and provision store, eggs are quoted at 
prices, as new-laid, fresh, strictly fresh, etc. It rests with 



the consumer to break the shell and see what is what, and 
sometimes the evidence is not confined to the eyesight. 

A reliable man with a reliable egg, has a reliable mar- 
ket, and always will have. The demand increases with the 
supply. 

Second— Egg farming, like every other calling, demands 
experience. The novice cannot realize this. He makes his 
investment, then gains his experience, when it is perhaps 
too late. Although the following little incident has been fre- 
quently related, it appeals so forcibly as an illustration that 
it will bear repetition. 

It was on the Atlantic coast, and Mr. A. G. Gilbert, well 
known as a lecturer on poultry, had impressed upon those 
present the vast importance of the poultry industry, when a 
young man in the audience questioned him thus: 

"I am anxious to invest $500 in a business undertak- 
ing. Would you advise me to engage in the poultry busi- 
ness?" 

"Do you know anything about the poultry business?" 
inquired the lecturer. 

"No, sir," was the reply. 

"Oh!" said Mr. Gilbert, "Do you know anything about 
the drug business?" 

"Why, no, sir," was the astonished rejoinder. 

"Well, then, my friend," said Mr. Gilbert, "I tell you 
what it is; I would advise you to tackle the drug business 
first." 

verybody will at once see that the drug business was 




A P JmWJ 






BLACK MINORCAS-BY SEWELL. 

e that will carry more meat than auy other of of the Mediterranean clas: 
exhibits are more attractive than a pen of dp-to-date Minorcas. Comb, 
1 long sloping back with profusely feathered tail of low car- 



EGGS AND EGG F \KMS, 



chosen as an example of a profession requiring 
knowledge, experience and care: and it was a happy 
illustration of the fact that equal industry, experi- 
ence, and care are necessary when about to engage 
in catering to the requirements of poultry. Does an 
artist assume to paint before he has mastered the 
mixing of the colors? Does he beautify his ideal 
while yet unable to produce the outline? Does the 
naturalist attempt to enlighten us on the habits of 
the feathered tribe before he is competent to dis- 
tinguish the individual types of his pets? No; yet 
a j'oung man who cannot tell a cock from a cock- 
erel, a hen from a pullet, a Leghorn from a Brahma, 
or a sickle from a scythe, assumes to pose as a poul- 
tryman, and to know that this most remunerative 
business is his simply for the asking. 

The foregoing are two main reasons why the 
poultry industry is not overdone. 

The Local Market. 



A report of tlje Director of Rhode Island Agri- 
cultural Experiment Station simply bears out what 
the poultry press has been impressing upon their 
readers for so many years. It has this advantage, 
however — it will be free from any charge of a 
biased view of the situation. The Experiment 
Stations are created for the benefit of the people of this 
country, and every care is taken that none but the most 
reliable information be sent out. Now let us see what this 
report states of interest to poultrymen. It applies chiefly 
to local trade, such as can be worked up in nearly any local- 
ity. 

The director says: "Another market has come to Rhode 
Island, furnished by the demands of the wealthy summer 
visitors and cottagers who desire to obtain and will pay well 
for fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy and poultry products. 
Farmers favorably located are learning to supply this spe- 
cial demand. Opportunity is thus offered for largely in- 
creased profit if the farmers who cater to this trade will 
supply the very best products, prepared according to ap- 
proved methods, put up in attractive style, and delivered 
fresh daily at the customer's door. * * * 

"In the extreme eastern part of the state the farmers 
have turned their attention to raising poultry on a large 
scale. They have in large numbers succeeded so that now 
their poultry farms are sought by the dealers in poultry and 
eggs instead of the poultryman having to seek markets for 
their products. * * * 

"It seems inevitable that there should come in the near 
future a great increase in poultry keeping in the state. 
Large areas of land now neglected but well adapted to poul- 
try farming may be economically and profitably turned to 
this purpose. * * * 

"On many a farm the poultry is in reality the most 
profitable part of the business. This plan should be extended 
until on every farm adapted ic the business poultry is kept 
to the extent of several hundred fowls. If the farmer him- 
self has no interest in this kind of live stock, he can at least 
give the son or daughter or wife this opportunity to increase 
the farm profits, or to gain well deserved pocket money." 

Gathering; and Shipping for Market. 

Care must be exercised in gathering the eggs, in pack- 
ing them, and in shipping to market. 

The following extract from the Canadian Department of 
The Reliable Poultry Journal amply illustrates this conten- 
tion: 




•The egg trade, I am led to understand, has been abused 
by the farmers, who form the chief source of supply. Their 
ideas have been to carry to market a full hasket of eggs 
whenever it is convenient to go to town on any business 
whatever. 'Gather them in,' is the policy; fill up the bas- 
ket: old and young, great and small: good, bad, and in- 
different; and he is a rascal of a commission merchant who 
has the audacity to inform the honest farmer that 'ten per 
cent of your last delivery was bad,' which means ten per 
cent off the price. The unsophisticated (?) farmer won't 
believe it, and claims he is being 'done up.' " 

"A member of the firm of D. Gunn Bros^ & Co., 
had the kindness to illustrate to me, while on a 
visit to their large establishment, the difficulties they 
meet in the course of their business. "In the first 
place," said Mr. Gunn, "the farmers will not convey their 
eggs to us in a proper manner. The great majority of 
eggs are received in baskets, rattled over a country road for 
many miles, and naturally many are broken, and more are 
injured by the jolting and shaking. To illustrate this, come 
along and see our men candling the eggs. Here is a con- 
signment of eighteen dozen eggs from which three dozen 
have been taken as being defective. These are called 
checked eggs, and result from the severe handling they have 
experienced. The shells are not necessarily cracked, but 
(holding one before the light) you will observe the yolk has 
a muddled appearance; it is distributed through a larger 
portion of the albt^men than is the case with this egg, which 
is perfect. Here is another defective egg, wherein the yolk 
is so dark that we simply have to discard it altogether." 

'"Why, there's a chick of about ten days' growth in that 
egg," I exclaimed, and sure enough, upon breaking it, there 
were the eyes and blood vessels of the— mongrel, I guess. 
Several other eggs were broken, some containing chicks, 
others showing growth of four or five days, but most 
numerous were the badly shaken yolks. 

"Actually," continued Mr. Gunn, "I had to bring a 
farmer in here to convince him that sometimes we did get 
bad eggs from him." 

"The best of these defective eggs, namely, those which 
have simply been shaken, are sold for, say, two or three 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



cents a dozen less than the prevailing price, and of course 
the farmer loses a portion of his profit." 

Color and Selection of Eggs 

"Have you any preference for brown or white eggs," t 
inquired. 

"Well, the brown eggs always sell better; there may be 
a difference of a cent or two a dozen in their favor, but we 
seldom receive them all one color. All sizes and colors are 
mixed. The farmer has not yet learned that eggs of one 
color, or assorted sizes, will fetch a bigger price than those 
of all descriptions, and it is our knowledge of this portion 
of the business which enables us to make up on good stock 
what we lose on Inferior. Oh, yes, the brown eggs are in 
greater demand and bring higher prices." 

In reply to a query, Mr. Gunn stated that he found 
brown eggs averaged considerably larger than white eggs. 
This was the reply received also from Mr. DeLaporte, 
another prominent commission man. It set me thinking, 
as my experience is the opposite; and I finally decided that 
the white eggs they received from the farmers are from the 
common barnyard stock, which has deteriorated in size, and 




in egg production, while the brown eggs are from birds 
which have been improved by the introduction of thorough- 
breds of the American or Asiatic classes. So few farmers 
keep a high class, of the Mediterranean variety that the 
largo white eggs of this class are few and far between. On 
examination I found only a very few which might pass for 
either Minorca or Leghorn eggs. 

'The English market," said Mr. Gunn, requires a fif- 
teen pound egg that is, fifteen pounds to the long hundred, 
or ten dozen. Colored eggs are preferred. A large business 
might be done there, if I could only obtain the high grade 
egg required; but when it becomes' necessary to grade eggs 
from stock having three dozen defective out of eighteen 
dozen, this trade is simply impossible; otherwise it would 
be most remunerative to those engaged in the poultry busi- 
ness." 

Mr. Park, a prominent merchant, acknowledged that he 
could give two cents a dozen more for selected eggs (that is, 
large or brown eggs) than for ordinary stock. 

"The market in Toronto last winter," said he, "was 
very unreliable. From the 1st to the 15th of December, eggs 
went flying up to forty cents a dozen; then, from the 18th 
to the end of the month, they 
were down to twenty cents 
on account of the great sup- 
ply. The average price for 
the month of November to 
February, inclusive, would be 
twenty to twenty-five cents 
per dozen, wholesale." 

The egg circular issued by 
D. Gunn Bros. & Co. contains 
some valuable pointers, as 
the following extracts show: 
"The loss in the value ot 
eggs offered in Toronto and 
other markets through care- 
less handling, is each year 
siderable. The slightest crack 
renders the eggs valueless for 
picking or cold storage pur- 
poses, and when sold as 
"checks" or cracked eggs, 
from two to three cents per 
dozen less than standard 
prices must be accepted. Col- 
lected from the nests in a 
haphazard way and carried 
to market over rough roads 
in an ordinary basket, there 
is usually considerable 
breakage before the eggs 
reach the store, where they 
run the chance of further 
loss by the handling of the 
merchant or his assistants. 
Loss in this way is inevitable 
so long as proper egg cariers 
are not used. These egg 
cases can be purchased at a 
very nominal figure, say 
twenty-five cents for a thirty 
dozen case, and by careful 
usage will last for years. 

"Keep the eggs clean," Is 
the advice which every mer- 
chant would impress upon the 



WELL BARRED, 
BUT NOT A 
BARRED ROCK. 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



owners of poultry. An abundance of fresh straw in the hen 
house is not a heavy expense, and it is essential to a profit- 
able market. If in spite of care the eggs should become 
dirty, then by no means wash them, as this process removes 
a glutinous covering from the shell and impairs their keep- 
ing qualities." 

This advice coming from a responsible firm makes us 
think. We are, however, of the opinion that the induce- 
ment to wash the dirty eggs would be too strong. It cer- 
tainly would affect the price of the product. 

Prof. Hilgard, of the University of California, experi- 
mented with a view to solving the problem of whether dark 
or light eggs are richer in their elements. He has made an 
analysis of the following varieties: Dark Eggs— Partridge 
Cochin, Dark Brahma, Black Langshan, White Langshan, 
White Wyandotte, Barred Plymouth Rock. Light Eggs- 
Brown Leghorn, White Minorca, Black Minorca, Buff Leg- 
horn. No practical difference, in a given weight of eggs, 
was found in the quantity of waste and edible portions and 
of white and yolk. Chemical analysis yielded a similar re- 
sult, no differences which might not occur between speci- 
mens of the same variety were detected between the several 
varieties. So far as the examination went, one egg was as 
good as another, irrespective of the breed which laid it or 
the color of the shell. 

The demand for brown eggs, however, has caused intelli- 
gence to be brought to bear on the production of a brown 
egg layer that might equal the white egg breeds, and a fair 
amount of success has attended these efforts. The result 
has been the production of a general purpose fowl, that is, 
a fowl which meets the requirements of the table and the 
egg basket, a "go between," as it were. These have been 
principally bred from crosses of the egg producer, upon the 
larger Asiatic breeds (which lay brown eggs), with some- 
times a touch of Indian Game blood. From these crosses 
was obtained an indefinite color in the egg. sometimes 
white, sometimes brown, sometimes neither. This opened 
up the way for more experiments, which are being carried 
on to-day. 

Some fanciers have taken a general purpose fowl and 
successfully endeavored to breed a strain of brown egg lay- 
ers, which can be relied upon; and this tendency has been 
so much followed that the majority of these breeds now lay 
a decidedly brown egg. 

Other fanciers have made endeavors to increase the egg 
yield of one or more of these breeds, and so successfully, 
that in individual strains they have been found to be the 
equal of the Mediterraneans. It has been done by pedigree 
breeding. Upon that method of increasing the egg yield 
more will be said later. 

The interviews we have referred to suggest that there 
Is, in the egg trade, "room at the top." 

The poultryraan who will ship, in properly constructed 
cases, eggs that have been graded according to size and 
color, can obtain recognition from the commission man, and 
that quickly. The breeder of thoroughbred Leghorns, or 
Minorcas, which have been selected from an egg-producing 
strain, can build up a trade at two cents a dozen higher than 
market price. The breeder of Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes. 
Brahmas, in fact of any of the brown egg layers can do like- 
wise. The farmer shall not be out in the cold, if he will 
oniy use common sense, and grade up his stock by the intro- 
"luction of thoroughbred male birds. Stick to one variety, 
and purchase a standard-bred male each year, and your 
■common barnyard fowl will lay the golden eggs. 

Why Thoroughbreds are to be Preferred. 

Before going into the main elements of profitable egg 
production, there are a few thoughts we want to share 



5;^^ 




BARRED ROCKS, 

with you, which are really necessary to a but not yet 

satisfactory commencement. They relate barred. 

to the selection of a breed or variety. It is 
not merely a question of which is your fav- 
orite fowl, but rather for what purpose was that fowl 
designed, and what arc its attributes or peculiarities aside 
from egg production, because tributary to this branch of the 
industry is the disposal of surplus cockerels and of hens 
which have passed the line of profit from an egg producing 
point of view. Much in this particular depends upon your 
selection. 

Thoroughbreds should form the foundation of your 
flock. Why? Because they lay better than mongrels; be- 
cause their eggs may be sold for hatching, and even when 
disposed of on the market will command a higher price on 
account of their r.niform color; because the surplus cock- 
erels will fetch a good price as breeders, and because being 
composed of one variety all your pens may receive similar 
attention and feeding, which economizes labor. 

Note what the Reliable Poultry Journal says an this 
point: 

"Every farmer who raises common poultry can put 
money in his pocket this coming season by investing $2 to 
$4 in a thoroughbred rooster. It is as plain as simple arith- 
metic. Buying a large, vigorous bird that outweighs your 
present rooster by two pounds, is equivalent to adding one 
pound of weight to every healthy chicken you raise next 
spring and summer. The saying that the male is half the 
pen applies in this case. The farmer need not pen up his 
fowls to make this true. 

"One pound of weight added to each of the few hundred 
chickens raised each year on many farms is a big item. The 
quantity of marketable chicken meat is not only increased 
by this simple process, but also the quality, for the larger 
and finer looking fowl, alive or dressed, is easier sold, and 
at a better price. 

"The farmer who wishes to improve his finances will 
look carefully afttr just such matters as these. And where 
the farmer's wife is the 'chicken man' she will do so. It is 
these strokes that count. Brute force does not hold its own 
on the farm as well as it once did. The thinking, planning. 



lO 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



experimenting farmer is the one who now makes headway 
and finds life on the farm worth living. 

"Then there is the important matter of an increased 
egg-yield. This can readily be brought about with any com- 
mon farm flock by introducing male blood from the great 
egg-laying breeds, the Leghorns. Minorcas, Andalusians, 
etc. A male of this kind, suitable for the purpose, can be 
bought at a low figure, and he will earn his homestead right 
several times over by the increased number of eggs his de- 
scendants will put into the basket. 

"Farmers, do not neglect such opportunities as these! 
With the prices of farm products so low it is wisdom for 
you to put your thinking cap on and be resolved to improve 
every chance to better your condition, to earn money. 

"Talk the matter over with your wife." 

In the show room you may hear visitors exclaim, "Why, . 



dwindle when you get them into a coop alongside these 
fellows!" 

Next, as to the egg producing qualities of thorough- 
breds. There are hundreds of men in this country who cater 
to the egg trade, and we know of none who would think of 
handling anything but thoroughbreds. They are not in the 
business for fun, but they cling to the thoroughbreds every 
time. Take a look through the subsequent pages of this 
book and see what experienced breeders have to say upon 
this point. 

Pedigree Breeding for Egg Production. 

Tributary to the subject of thoroughbreds arises the 
question of Pedigree Breeding. 

Experiments have been made to see if the number of 
rows of corn on the cob could not be increased with success. 



PL An 'A^ 

LAYING HOUSE WITH SCRATCHING SHED. 



CYPHERS INCUBATOR CO. 




Seclionol Veui sho^ n^ lot 

betuieen the ScfitcSinq Sheds. 
also Roost and Bropptng Boari 



:t. 



Ground Plan 



.X::... 




my fowls at home on the farm are just as good as these; 
they are just as big, and I guess they lay as well." Then 
they'll turn around and say, "Don't you think so, mister'.'" 
We tolerate people who talk that way. It is better so. 
Life is too short to argue with them. If such comments 
were confined to one or two individuals we might feel in- 
clined to argue the case on the spot; but we have found that 
there are so very many of these spots, that it is better to 
overstep them. These people cannot realize how different 
their birds would look if placed alongside the thoroughbreds 
which occupy a coop in the show room; but they can learn, 
and if they "mean business," it is to their interest to do so. 
Many and many a fancier has taken his medicine right 
in the show room, and not always in homeopathic doses. 
Men of experience in the poultry business have received an 
eye-opener, when placing their birds on exhibition for the 
first time. "Well, sir," they exclaim, "it beats all, I could 
have sworn that my birds were bigger, but they seem to 



A similar method to that pursued with the corn is appli- 
cable to poultry breeding. For example, one starts with 
fowls which lay 120 eggs each in a year. Among their 
descendants are some which lay 150 eggs per year, and these 
are selected for breeding. From these some are produced 
which lay 175 eggs per year, and from these, perhaps, the 
200-egg-per-year-hen is produced. The problem is not quite 
so simple with fowls as with corn, for it is necessary to 
breed the males as well as the females, year after year, from 
prolific layers, in order to succeed. If one looks after the 
breeding of the females only, he may introduce on the male 
side blood which is lacking in prolificacy and thus check 
every attempt at progress. It becomes necessary therefore 
to breed the males from hens which are varying in the 
desired direction and which show a cumulative variability 
in that direction. If the 200-egg bird is to be produced it is 
just as essential that the male should be from a hen which 
laid 17-" eggs and from a male that was bred from a hen 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



that laid 150 eggs, as it is that the hen was from one that 
laid 175 eggs and whose mother laid 150 eggs. Improvers 
of laying fowls are too apt to forget this and introduce 
males with little regard to their breeding and then wonder 
why the prolificacy of the flock does not increase. 

Attractive! Interesting! Profitable! are terms which 
can be applied to pedigree breeding. The day is now 
at hand when no first-class breeder will take any chances on 
the prepotent quality of his breeding stock, and the fact that 
there are so many now who follow no system to identify 
their best breeders accounts in a large measure for the 
kaleidoscopic rapidity with which poultry fanciers come to 
the front and just as rapidly disappear from view. It is all 
chance work with them. They breed a few good birds one 
year and win. The next year they fail to produce even one, 
and are at a loss to tell why. The chances are that the sire 



and most perfect instrument that man possesses for the 
modification of living organisms." 

Prof. A. A. Brigham, Ph. D., Director of the Rhode Isl- 
and Experiment Station, expresses himself clearly upon this 
question, and what he says will appeal to every intelligent 
breeder. Coming from such authority it should effectually 
remove any doubts which exist on the necessity of pedigree 
breeding, which subject has so far received little considera- 
tion by poultrymen. The time is close upon us when the list 
of winners at poultry shows will be entirely made up from 
the list of pedigree breeders. 

Mr. Brigham says: "The aim in poultry breeding is to 
produce and perpetuate the best birds, i. e., such as, in their 
form and other characteristics, answer the purpose of the 
breeder. The object of the art as usually practiced is to 
produce the largest quantity of the best quality of certain 



Laying House . 

DESIGNED BY 

CYPHERS INCUBATOR CO. 



C0P1 MGHTED 




SECTIONAL vit» 






, bl 1 .3 






FRONT ELEVATI 




96 ft. 
GROUND PLAN. 



or dam of the winners went as a martyr to the block, or w-as 
inadvertently sold, and perchance caused another man to 
imagine for a year or so that he. too, had become a success- 
ful breeder. 

Plants are affected by selection. 

It has been our pleasure to notice divergencies in the 
color or shape of a flower, and by selecting its seed to incul- 
cate such divergence in the plants raised therefrom, some- 
times with less success. 

A leading authority says: "The word selection, taken in 
its general sense, means choice. In natural history, when 
applied to plants or animals which man raises under domes- 
tication, it assumes a more restricted meaning and is ap- 
plied only to the choice of individuals considered as agents 
of reproduction." * * ■' Much has been said of cultivation 
as a means of improving plants. The writer believes, how- 
ever, that the selection of the individual intended to repro- 
duce a sort, has done infinitely more in this direction than 
cultivation." His conclusion is that "Selection is the surest 



animal products with the least waste and largest net profit. 

"The scope of stock breeding is almost unlimited, and 
gives ample room for the largest and best, the deepest and 
highest study and practice of agriculturists. 

"When we consider that the excellent improved breeds 
of poultry of the present day all originated from wild and 
slightly esteemed progenitors in the past, we gain some idea 
of the amplitude of opportunities which are open to the in- 
telligent breeder in the present condition of poultry culture. 

"Success in stock-breeding depends upon the certainty 
that the progeny will at the time of procreation, inherit the 
general or mingled qualities of the parents. Color and out- 
ward shape, and the characteristics and tendencies of the 
internal organs and structure are thus transmitted. Hered- 
ity extends even to the transmission of longevity, fecundity, 
disposition and habits. * * * 

"Prepotency is increased by carefully breeding together 
animals of like inclination, and the longer this process is 
continued the more certainly is the peculiarity transmitted. 



12 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



Prepotency in a given respect may tlius come to be a qual- 
ity of a flocl£, of a family and of a breed. 

"The principle of prepotency is of special value to the 
poultry breeder, in that it enables him to select for his par- 
ticular purpose an adapted breed which is, as a breed, pre- 
potent in the line desired; next, to obtain as foundation 
stock individuals from a family known to be especially pre- 
potent in the particular respects desired; and, finally, to use 
as the sire of his animals' offspring a male individually pre- 
potent and most certain to transmit the desirable charac- 
teristics to his get. Prepotency is of great practical utility 
in crossing males of pure breeds upon common stock, to 
rapioly improve the poultry of a country or district. * * * 

"It is a principle in stock-breeding that coupling two 
animals possessing the same quality, defect, or disease, will 



ble and prepotent characters of a few^ncestors upon nu- 
merous descendants. 

"The pedigree of an animal is his line of descent, his 
list of progenitors, in short, his ancestry. * * * 

"The perfectly prepared pedigree of an animal shows 
the foundation stock of the breed that enters into his line 
of ancestry, and then step by step exhibits the different links 
in the chain of life, indicating to what extent the foundation 
stock and their progeny re-enter the pedigree, the closeness 
of interbreeding, the outbreeding, the use of unknown, 
doubtful, or undesirable sires or dams, in fact, all the blood 
relationships of which the animal is the result." * * * 

"Thus, gradually, a type is developed, which, after sev- 
eral generations, becomes fixed and certain of transmission 
to continued generations. What the family type shall be 



PLAN C ." 
HILLSIDE LAYING HOUSE 

WITH SCRATCHING SHEDS . 




PERSPECTIVE VIEW. 



tend to fix and intensify that quality, defect, or disease in 
the offspring. 

Essential Conditions for Pedigfree Preeding. 

"Two essential conditions must invariably attend suc- 
cessful inbreeding, viz., sound constitution and perfect 
health. With these as a foundation, close inbreeding may 
be practiced with the best of results, as shown by the breeds 
thus produced and perpetuated by successful stock-breeders. 

"The qualities of fattening easily and quickly, of early 
maturity, of enormous egg production, all have been 
brought to the highest perfection in individuals and fami- 
lies which have resulted from close inbreeding. * * * 

"From the study we have made of the principles of 
breeding we must conclude that the ancestry of our breed- 
ing animals is of very great significance in determining re- 
sults. The development of the best breeds of farm stock 
has been in a very striking degree the fixing of the desira- 



depends upon the environments and the standard fixed in 
the mind of the breeder, who selects, at first, and continu- 
ously, those animals which come nearest to his ideal, or pos- 
sess qualities which he wishes fixed in his stock. He breeds 
them together in accordance with the laws of heredity and 
variation, continuing a process of selecting and discarding 
according to his fixed ideal or standard of excellency, and 
gets his desire." 

That's just it— "gets his desire," and the poultry fan- 
cier's desire is to be at the top. By adopting this method of 
breeding he will get there. The egg farmer's desire is that 
his hens shall lay 200 eggs a year. He adopts this method 
of breeding and they lay 200 eggs a year; but as this trait 
has yet to be generally established, it means years of en- 
deavor, although every year's results will spur him on to 
greater efforts. 

Quality, Not Quantity. 

In this age of so-called over production it should be 
plain to everybody that what is wanted is not quantity, but 



EGGS AND" EGG FARMS, 



quality. We have an over production, no doubt, of inferior 
and medium grade stuff, but quality still brings good prices, 
still sells at a premium. While there is no overproduction 
in poultry and eggs, there is a decided difference in price. 
Quality governs. 

Mr. C. H. Wyckoft told the editor of the Reliable Poul- 
try .Tournal of a case which illustrates the point. 

•'Two years ago the plum trees in his poultry yards were 
fairly matted with young fruit. There was more fruit by far 
than the trees could ripen into large, showy plums of good 
flavor, or, in other words, into salable fruit." Mr. Wyckoff 
knew that the wise thing to do was to thin out the crop. This 
he did. assisted by his wife and hired man. They did the work 
at odd times, keeping account of the number of hours each 



hard work, but it is still the short and pleasant road to suc- 
cess. Referring to the quality of dressed poultry, we some 
time ago had a talk with a Mr. Allen, a celebrated dressed- 
poultry dealer. He said to us that he was then getting twen- 
ty-eight cents a pound for chickens. We looked up the mar- 
ket quotations and found chickens, dressed, quoted at 
twelve to thirteen cents per pound. The difference in price 
was due to quality. Quality is what pays. Mr. Allen sal'J 
that he bought from certain poultry raisers whom he had 
years ago carefully instructed what to raise and how to 
raise it, who always brought him chickens of a grade that 
other dealers could not duplicate, and these he never had 
any difficulty whatever in selling at the highest price. It 
was the poor, cheap stuff that liid not pay. For the best 




QUALITY AND QUANTITY IN THE POULTRY YARD. 

1 my poultry yards were fairly matted with young fruit. There was more fruit by far tha; 
. We used scissors, thinning out from one-third to one-half of the crop. The result jvas t 
s were peddling plums at 30 and 40 cents a bushel, I sold mine at $1,50 a bushel, and they 
were well worth the difference in price." 



worked at this task. The three put in what was equivalent 
to thirteen days of one person's time. They simply used 
scissors, thinning cut from one-third to one-half of the crop. 
Said Mr. Wyckoff: "The result was this: while my neigh- 
bors and others hereabouts were peddling their plums in 
Groton at 30 and 40 cents per bushel I sold mine without 
any effort at $1.50 per bushel, and they were well worth the 
difference in price. They were uniformly large and of good 
flavor, while those that had been permitted to grow wild 
were half size and hardly fit to eat!" 

In writing of this the editor of R. P. J. continued: 
"We could cite several similar cases that have come un- 
der our personal knowledge. Quality must be the watch- 
word if we are to do a profitable business in fruit, in poul- 
try, in almost anything. It costs extra effort, it calls for 



there was always a demand beyond the supply. The general 
law of supply and demand operates uniformly the world 
over, where it is not interfered with by unwise legislation. 
If the demand exceeds the supply, so that the customers bid 
against each other, the price will go up; but if the supply 
exceeds the demand, so that the sellers bid against each 
other, the price will go down. It makes a great difference 
which class does the bidding, but always quality pays, for 
the supply of the best is always inadequate to meet the de- 
mand the best." 

Housing: the Fowls. 

Assuming that you have sufficient land for your pur- 
pose, the number of fowls to be kept should be governed by 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



the house accommodation you can afford. That is where 
many poultrymen fail. This year's stock is bundled into 
last year's houses, although there may be half as many 
again chicks. This won't do; it is the commencement of 
trouble. Lice, disease, puny stock, and continual worry, 
with an accompanying proportion of non-success, may be 
attributed, in many cases, to want of house room. There- 
foiw limit your stock to the expenditure in this direction. 
There is no need to build elaborate poultry houses; the 
simpler they are the better. Study your climatic require- 
ments, then put up houses which may be well aired, and 
which are so conveniently arranged as to economize labor, 
and provide accommodation for your every requirement in 
all seasons. 

You should have pens for the chicks when they leave 
the brooders, and furnish them sufficient house room to 
prevent crowding. Overcrowded chicks never attain health 
or size; and even if they should happen to come along well, 
it means so much extra care and attention. You must allow 
for the separation of the cockerels from the pullets before 
they attain maturity. You should provide pens for fatten- 
ing the surplus cockerels, as they will need to be fed sepa- 
rately. You must allow for breeding and laying pens, and 
lots of room for exercise dur- 
ing the time the fov;ls are con- 
fined to the house. Pens oi 
coops for surplus males shotild 
be made, and it is well that 
they should be able to exer- 
cise themselves. Then, if you 
think of placing any of your 
birds in a show room in the 
best possible condition, there 
should be coops in which you 
can prepare them. 

The room for your food 
should be rat proof, and of 
course the hen house, too, if 
you can afford it. It is advisa- faikvu u fak.m-ti,c 

able to have solid wooden par- 
titions in your house at certain distances, if your house is 
a continuous one— at least every half dozen pens. 

Fresh Air Prevents Disease. 

As to ventilation, we do not place much faith in the 
many appliances that some poultrymen feel bound to have. 
Given a house where we can open our windows and doors 
during the fine weather, and we want no patent ventilating 
apparatus. In nearly all cases where ventilators are used 
there arises a question whether or not the houses are prop- 
erly aired, and in many cases a draft is created. This is 
detrimental to the health of the fowls. 

One of the chief preventives of disease is fresh air, and 
it can be better Introduced by opening all the windows of 
the house than by means of any ventilator that has ever 
been invented. 

If the houses are kept well cleaned the necessity for 
ventilation is reduced fifty per cent, that is to say, the foul 
air is not allowed to accumulate so rapidly. 

Much depends upon the location of the houses. "High 
and dry" is a good motto in this connection. Some poultry- 
men prepare a long building of continuous pens, others 
what is called the scratching shed plan, which provides for 
an open shed for every pen. In all your constructions bear 
in mind the necessity for time saving in attendance upon 
the fowls— economy of labor; have as few nooks, corners 
and uneven surfaces as possible; provide for natural 




warmth at night in winter; have no fixtures that you can 
dispense with; make the nests, roosts §bd dropping boards 
movable; windows not too large; floors as you choose, 
boarded or not, according to circumstances, but they must 
be dry; in fact, keep in view economy, cleanliness and the 
he.ilth of your stock, and never mind the frills. 

Damp, frosty walls in hen houses have troubled many a 
poultryman. The open, well-aired house is one of the best 
preventives of this annoyance. The house that becomes 
warm during the day and cold at night will have damp 
walls just as sure as a dirty house will harbor lice. If you 
are bothered with damp walls and do not care to open your 
windows continually, the only way to dry them will be to 
light a fire periodically as the houses require it. 

Feeding for Eggs. 

The young blood in the poultry business is apt to be- 
come discouraged by the complicated suggestions he reads 
on the food question. The more he reads the more discour- 
aged he becomes. Don't let a little thing like that throw 
you off the track. All the rations you read about are good, 
that is, all those that are recommended by reliable publica- 
tions. The kind of food a hen should get, the amount she 
should consume, and the time 
she gets it, should be gov- 
erned entirely by circum- 
stances. 'What will cure a 
horse will kill a man, and, for 
that matter, what would kill 
one man will not materially 
affect another. Sometimes it 
depends upon the strength ct 
the man, and sometimes on 
the strength of that he im- 
bibes. And so it is with 
fowls. A Leghorn and a 
Brahma should be fed differ- 
^^^^■^~"^^^~~~~"^^~' ently. A fowl on a big range 
eld of Maiisei Wiirzeis. must not be fed similarly to 

one that is confined to a house. 
Food that produces eggs in winter will be considered heavy 
feeding in summer. These are things the novice has to 
learn. 

Balanced Rations. 
Do you not think that breeders are beginning to dab- 
ble into scientific feeding'' Certainly they are; it is one of 
the several methods intelligent men are using to Increase 
the egg production of their flocks. The cattle men have 
been at it for years endeavoring to increase the supply of 
milk, and with very beneficial results. They feed a bal- 
anced ration which possesses, as nearly as possible, all the 
forms of nourishment that enter into the composition of 
milk and possesses them in like proportion. 

Some poultrymen are working upon similar lines, tak- 
ing the composition of an egg as their basis. 

The Experiment Stations are doing good work, and 
breeders will await the result of their investigations. Some 
of the results will be useful in determining the food ques- 
tion, but they are not of necessity so. 

We have in mind an experiment that was conducted 
over a period of seven months to discover the effects of 
nitrogenous as compared with carbonaceous food upon 
fowls. One group was fed heavily with corn, the other with 
wheat — both with a proportion of other grain. We will, for 
simplicity, call them corn fed and wheat fed fowls respec- 
tively. 

The conclusions arrived at were as follows: 

(1) The wheat fed fowls gained 354 pounds, while the 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



15 



■corn fed fowls only gained 34 pounds during the same time. 

(2) The wheat fed laid 17,459 eggs, the corn fed only 
9,709. 

(3) A larger per cent of the eggs laid by the wheat fed 
fowls were fertile, the corn fed laying many unfertile eggs. 

Such experiments as these would have a far-reaching 
effect ou the poultry industry, if the coD^lusions were gen- 
erally accepted. They would seem to prove that nitrogenous 
feeding is away ahead of carbonaceous feeding, but they 
prove nothing of the kind, when we come to analyze them. 

Take conclusion No, 1 for example, which says the 
wheat fed fowls gained 354 pounds in seven months and the 
corn fed gained only 34 pounds. Any practical poultryman 
when he considers the ration will be surprised to find that 
the corn fed fowls had any gain at all registered against 
them at the end of seven months. Fancy a fowl thriving 
on potatoes, corn and oats. There was, we admit, a feed of 
clover on the third, fourth and fifth months and some wheat 
screenings during the second and third months; but during 
the first, second, sixth and seventh months, the two last 
being most important of all, there was nothing but corn, po- 
atoes and oats, and during the 
fifth month they existed on corn 
arid potatoes with some clover hay 
thrown in, while on the sixth 
month the poor things were fed 
corn and potatoes alone. 

On the other hand see what the 
wheat fed fowls reveled in every 
month — potatoes, hominy feed, 
brown middlings, corn, oats and 
fresh bone; wheat screenings for 
three months, clover hay for three 
months and oil-cake two months. 
They also received every month 
from 200 to 450 pounds of fooJ 
more than the corn fed fowls. The 
chances are that the corn fed fowls 
got sick of their rations and would 
not eat. The fact is, instead of 
making any gain in flesh they lost 

regularly during the last four months of the experiment, 
which proves they were not getting properly balanced 
rations. 

As to the second conclusion: If a poultryman were to 
feed his fowls as these were fed, he would not expect any 
eggs, and the fact that those experimented upon were losing 
flesh during the last four months, should have shown the 
persons in control that something was wrong in their man- 
ner of feeding. If the fowls were not vigorous it is nat- 
ural to suppose their eggs would be infertile. The conclu- 
sion arrived at states that, "Although the nitrogenous ration 
costs slightly more, yet it was more profitable, because more 
eggs were laid and the fowls gained more in weight. The 
eggs from the nitrogenous fed fowls were larger, more fer- 
tile and hatched better and produced far more vigorous 
chicks than those laid by hens fed on carbonaceous rations. 
Both lots of fowls remained in a healthy, vigorous condition 
during the entire test." 

It has been impressed upon poultrymen again and 
again that fowls need a variety of food. It has been proved 
that fresh out bone is one of the best egg producers in exist- 
ence, and yet somebody argues that because corn fed— ill- 
fed— fowls do not lay as many eggs as fowls that are fed 
wheat and cut bone, therefore carbonaceous feeding is com- 
paratively undesirable. 

Our conclusion is, that incorrectly balanced ra- 




tions, or those that contain no green food, and no 
animal food, are dear at any price. Further, the fact that 
eggs become smaller is one of the signs of unhealthy fowls. 
Again, fowls which lose weight during the last four 
months out of seven, cannot be in a healthy state, unless at 
the beginning of that period they were far too fat. Further- 
more, it is not wise to adopt on the spur of the moment the 
conclusions based upon experiments which were not con- 
ducted upon parallel lines. 

Green Food Important. 

Among the valuable experiments that have been con- 
ducted are several on the value of clover as a food. At the 
Kansas Experiment Station, Alfalfa (Lucerne) was tested 
as food for hogs, and proved pretty clearly the advisability 
of using green food, if only to promote digestion. 
The hogs were divided into four lots of ten each. 
We quote; "Lot 1 was fed dry Kafir-corn meal and al- 
falfa hay, lot 2 whole Kafir-corn, lot 3 dry Kafir-corn meal, 
and lot 4 wet Kafir-corn meal. The alfalfa hay was of the 
best quality and carefully cured. It was dry fed in a large 
feeding trough. The pigs were 
confined in large pens with open 
sheds. The test began November 
U, 1898, and covered 9 weeks. Lot 
1 gained 90.9 pounds or 10.88 
pounds per bushel of dry corn 
meal and 70.83 pounds of alfalfa; 
lot 2 gained 59.4 pounds or 8.56 
pounds per bushel of grain; lot 3 
gained 52.4 pounds or 7.48 pounds 
per bushel of grain; and lot 4 
gained 63.3 pounds or 8.09 pounds 
per bushel, of grain. These results 
are not due to the feeding value of 
the alfalfa alone, but also to its 
influence in aiding the hogs to 
better digest the Kafir-corn. 
The alfalfa hay also gave a 
variety to the ration, making it 
more appetizing and inducing 
the hogs to eat more grain. t * * The hay fed 
hogs ate more grain and gained more for each bushel eaten. 
"In a former experiment at this college pigs were pas- 
tured through the summer on alfalfa with a light feeding of 
corn. After deducting the probable gain from the corn, the 
gain per acre from the alfalfa pasture was 776 pounds of 
pork." 

Those breeders of poultry who have used clover would 
not bo without it, and there is every reason to suppose that 
its use results as satisfactorily as in hog feeding. We are 
not to imagine that clover is the best green food in exist- 
ence, but reckoning on its cost compared with other foods, 
we are not far astray in saying it is the cheapest. Cabbage, 
for instance, contains more nutriment than clover, and, fed 
in equal quantities, will likely be a better egg producer, but 
it is a much more expensive food. 

To obtain best results Lucerne should be cut between 
the periods of medium and full-bloom, and should be care- 
fully cured, bearing in mind that the leaves are most nutri- 
tious. We cannot place too much importance on the feed- 
ing of green stuff. It goes a long way towards successful 
breeding. 

Cot Bone Versos Animal Meal. 
Sometimes we jump at conclusions too quickly alto- 
gether. Experiments, even when conducted on a proper 
basis, are not always conclusive. Cases in point are inves- 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



ligations which have been made regarding the comparative 
value of cut bone and animal meal. Of four experiments, 
two resulted in favor of the bone, and two in favor of the 
meal. Now, if a reader had known the result of only one 
of these experiments, he would have sworn by it, of course. 
Therefore, beware. 

We are not sure that the final conclusion of the experi- 
menter is quite correct. Referring to the last experiment, 
in which the use of animal meat resulted most favorably, he 
says: "The results have been twice favorable to bone, and 
twice to animal meal, but this last experiment is more de- 
cisive than any preceding." 

If that be so, we do not understand the facts. We have 
before us details of two of the experiments, including that 
from which we have quoted. In the test wherein the meal 
fed fowls came out ahead, the cost per egg from them was 
about three-quarters the cost of those from the bone fed 
fowls; while in the test wherein the bone fed fowls were 
winners the eggs from them cost only about one-half the 
cost of those from the meal fed fowls. 

So that as between the two most decisive experiments, 
the cut green bone finished considerably in the lead. 

Corn Versus Wheat. 

The most notable and surprising information on the 
food question that has been given to poultrymen within our 
recollection is that which appeared in the Reliable Poultry 
Journal for December, 1899, and which we cannot allow our 
readers to overlook. It refers to the use of corn, and 
clearly demonstrates that while we have been paying eighty 
cents a bushel for wheat, corn at forty cents has been a good 
egg producer. The value of this information cannot be over- 
estimated. We have reproduced it in this book with addi- 
tional matter that has come to us in the same connection. 
It is worth many dollars to you. 

Flavor of Eggs. 

Another point which should not be overlooked is the 
effect of certain foods upon the flavor of eggs. 

It seems to be a fact that if hens are largely fed upon 
highly pungent foods the eggs will be to some extent tainted 
by those foods. A fishy diet will impart a fishy flavor; 
onions will give some of their pungency to the eggs. We 
have read of fowls eating the carcass of a dead muskrat and 
laying eggs with a musky flavor. All of the instances which 
have come under our notice where eggs have been affected 
unfavorably by the food have been cases where the food 
possessed a strong odor and had been consumed in consider- 
able quantities. Other foods that have been equally dis- 
gtreting to our sense, but which lacked volatile properties, 
have seemed incapable of noticeably affecting the flavor of 
the eggs. 

Incubators and Brooders. 

It is absolutely impossible to compete with the present- 
day breeders who raise poultry and eggs for market unless 
you use incubators and brooders. To begin with, the stock 
cannot be bred in sufficient numbers, and again, just at the 
time when you want to place your eggs in incubation you 
are at a standstill if you depend upon hens; the result is the 
produce is not hatched at proper season and therefore can 
not be placed on the market when high prices prevail, and 
it is by marketing at such times that the poultry business 
returns enormous profits. Unless you compete at such per- 
iods you might as well drop clean out of sight. 

The breeder of a few fowls needs no incubator if he has 
a variety of fowl which incubates. On the other hand, if he 
breeds Minorcas, Leghorns or any of the non-sitting breeds, 
he either must have an incubator or purchase hens for set- 



PLYMOUTH 
BOCK. 



ting. Our experience is that when the number of chicks 
raised exceed a hundred or so the inwbator saves time, 
trouble and money. 

Leading Breeds of Fowls. 
It is better that you should confine yourself to one 
breed; you will be more successful, and like it better; you 
can pay more attention to perfecting that breed, and you 
will feel as happy as a man with "just one girl." 

In the poultry kingdom there are egg producers, mar- 
ket fowls, general purpose fowls, and fancy fowls. 

The egg producing field, until late years, has been mon- 
opolized by the Mediterranean breeds; so called by reason of 
their origin on the north shore of the Mediterranean Sea. 
These birds have been bred purely for egg production, and 
they all lay w'hite eggs of various sizes. Other fowls that 
have been carefully bred with a view to increased egg pro- 
duction have given satisfactory returns, and as we have 
said elsewhere, there are individual specimens that equal 
the Mediterranean breed. We will refer shortly to the prin- 
cipal breeds and leave the reader to take his choice. 

The Barred Plymouth Rock is nearly 
^?f„^^^'^^'° *°° ol<i to need description. Nearly every 
farm in the country has had this variety at 
some time, and the reader will readily rec- 
ognize them by the cuts which this book contains. During 
the past ten years there have been more Barred Rocks than 
any ether breed placed by farmers upon the roaster and 
boiler market. They are good winter layers. 

Plumage — A bluish gray, barred with a very dark blue, 
which approaches black. 

Comb of All Varieties of the Plymouth Bock— Single, 
and comparatively small. 

Standard Weight of All Plymouth Bocks— Cock, 9% 
pounds. Hen, 7% pounds. Cockerel, S pounds. Pullet, 6^^ 
pounds. 
Cockerel, 8 pounds. Pullet, 6% pounds. 

The White Plymouth Rock is a more 
recent variety, claimed to be a sport (or ac- 
cidental production) from the Barred Rock 
It is similar to the Barred Rock in every 
respect except color. They are not so extensively bred, but 
have an advantage, as a table fowl, over the Barred, in the 
absence of the dark pin-feathers which disfigure the first 
named variety when plucked. The greatest difficulty exper- 
ienced by fanciers, is to eradicate the creamy shade from 
the plumage, and at the same time, preserve the yellow legs 
and beak. Every year this trouble is becoming less notice- 
able, so much so that at the best shows few creamy birds 
are now seen. As layers they equal the Barred variety. 
Plumage— White. 

The Buff Plymouth Rock is the most 
recent addition to this general purpose 
breed, and has in a short time become very 
popular. It is claimed that the plumage as- 
sists in producing and maintaining the much desired yellow 
skin of a table fowl. It will take some years before the black 
and white in wings and tail, which breeders have to con- 
tend with will totally disappear. Pure buff birds are ex- 
tremely valuable. All the Rocks excel as winter layers, and 
this variety is no exception to the rule. 
Plumage — Golden Buff. 

The Silver Laced Wyandotte perhaps 
matures quicker that the Plymouth Rock, 
but at maturity averages about a iwund 
lees. The difficulty to be encountered is the 
breeding of well-defined lacing which, when obtained, ren- 
ders this fowl particularly attractive. It is of a more blocky 



THE WHITE 
PLYMOUTH 
BOCK. 



THE BUFF 
PLYMOUTH 
BOCK. 



THE SILVEB 

LACED 

WYANDOTTE 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



17 



THE 

WHITE 

WYANDOTTE. 



build than the Plymouth Rock; makes a good table fowl, 
and is its equal as a winter layer. It has a rose comb, which 
should fit closely to the head, and should not be too meaty. 
The dark pin-feathers appear in this variety, as in the 
Barred Rocks. 

Comb of All Varieties of the Wyandotte— Rose and low. 

Plumage — Black and white, distributed as illustrated in 
this book. 

Standard Weight of All Varieties of the Wyandotte— 
Cock, 8*/^ pounds. Hen, 6y2 pounds. Cockerel, 7% pounds. 
Pullet, 5% pounds. 

THE GOLDEN LACED WYANDOTTE is similar to 
the Silver in every respect except that golden bay is substi- 
tuted for white m the plumage. It makes an equally hand- 
some bird. 

The White Wyandotte has had a big 
run among the broiler men. Rapid matur- 
ity, absence of dark pin-feathers, and a 
blocky little frame quickly filled out, has 
made it possible to place a meaty morsel on the market at 
twelve weeks. As a winter layer it equals the other varie- 
ties of the Wyandottes, and has been bred extensively by the 
fancy, who have been working hard to retain the yellow 
legs and skin, while breeding out the creamy tinge in the 
plumage. 

Plumage— White. 

The Buft Wyandotte is one of the most 
recent productions in the Wyandotte class 
and the demand for it has increased very 
"■ rapidly. It has the same advantage of 
color as that claimed for the Buff Plymouth Rock. Like the 
other Wyandottes, it matures quickly, and is being exten- 
sively tried for broilers. It makes a good winter layer. The 
black and white in wings and tail will take some years to 
breed out, but perhaps this lends additional aest to the pur- 
suit by the fancier 

Plumage— Golden Buff. 

This variety, with its cousin, the Sil- 



THE 

BUFF 

WYANDOTTE. 



PARTRIDGE 
WYANDOTTES. 



ver Pencilled Wyandotte, is the most re- 
cent addition to the Wyandotte class. Its 
plumage is similar to that of the Partridge Cochin, a much 
older breed. Being a new breed, there is of course some dif- 
ficulty in breeding it up to standard requirements. 



SILVER 

PENCILLED 

WYANDOTTES. 



One of the most beautiful of the Wy- 
andottes; admitted to the standard in 
190S. The plumage is similar to that of 
the Dark Brahma. Difficulties in breed- 
ing to standard requirements will arise for some years. 

THE BLACK WYANDOTTE is similar to the other 
varieties, except that it is black throughout, and perhaps 
not as desirable as a table fowl for that reason. In egg pro- 
duction there is little difference. 



THE 

BROWN 

LEGHORN. 



The Brown Leghorn is a favorite family 
egg producer. A sprightly, ever scratching 
bird, which lays perhaps as well as any 
variety, though the eggs are on the small 
side, except in individual strains. 
Comb— Single, rather large. 

Plumage— Male: Breast, black; back, red, striped with 
black; neck and saddle, brilliant red, with black stripes. 
Female: Breast, salmon; back, brown, penciled with darker 
brown; neck, yellow, with black stripes. 



THE 

WHITE 

LEGHORN. 



THE 

BUPF 

LEGHORN. 



THE ROSE COMB variety is identical, with the excep- 
tion of the comb, but there has existed a difficulty in getting 
them up to size. 

There is no standard weight for Leghorns. 

The White Leghorn is identical in size 
and shape with the Brown; it lays just as 
well, but the eggs are larger as a rule. More 
of these birds are being bred for laying pur- 
poses than in former years. Many of them are used as a 
cross on larger varieties to produce broilers, but this method 
has not been commonly adopted. The creamy shade of 
plumage invades this variety, as it does other white birds. 
Comb— Single, rather latge. 
Plumage — White. 

THE ROSE COMB variety is identical, with the excep- 
tion of the comb, but the majority of the birds are slightly 
smaller, and lay smaller eggs than the single comb birds. 
The Buff Leghorn is a comparatively 
recent addition to this breed, and has not 
yet generally acquired the sprightliness, 
shape, and style of the other varieties. It 
should run the Whites close in the competition for popular- 
ity, by reason of the favorite color of its plumage. They are 
larger in many cases than the Browns or Whites, and com- 
pete with the Whites in the size of their eggs. In the race 
for perfect plumage, it has jumped to the front of the Buff 
breeds. 

Comb— Single, rather large. 
Plumage— Golden Buff. 

BLACK LEGHORNS, AND SILVER DTJCKWING 
LEGHORNS are less extensively bred than any of the other 
varieties named. The Blacks are in advance of the Duck- 
wings in this respect. The plumage of the Black is as its 
name indicates; while the Silver Duckwing male's hackle is 
silvery white with black stripes; back, white; breast, black; 
tail, black. Female — Hackle, silvery gray, with narrow 
black stripes; back, light gray; breast, light salmon; tail, 
black or brown, becoming gray in the top feathers. 
Comb— Single in each case. 

Or, as it is frequently called, the Blue 
Andalusian, is another of the egg 
producers not very widely bred. In 
size it lies between the Leghorn and the Minorca. 
Andalusians are first-class layers. They are becoming more 
popular. It is a surprise that more have not been bred, but 
probably this is because so great a number of the chicks are 
culls in color, running very light. 
Comb — Single, rather large. 

Plumage— A slaty blue, laced with a darker shade. In 
the male, the neck, back, saddle and tail approaches black. 
Standard Weight — Cock, 6% pounds. Hen, 5'^ pounds. 
Cockerel, SVz pounds. Pullet, 4% pounds. 

The Black Minorca is a favorite breed, 
combining size with production of large 
white eggs. During the last ten years a 
great increase has been made in the size of 
the comb, which, on exhibition specimens, is now required 
to be quite large. This renders it difficult to preserve it 
from frost bite in severe climates, and therefore the egg 
production is affected in extremely cold weather. In warmer 
seasons they are unequalled as egg producers. 
Comb— Single, very large. 
Plumage— Glossy black, with a green tinge. 



THE 

ANDALUSIAN, 



THE 

BLACK 

MINORCA 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



standard Weight— Cock, 8 pounds. Hen. 6% pounds. 
Cockerel. 6% pound-s. Pullet, 5% pounds. 

THE WHITE MINORCA is similar in every respect to 
the Black, with the exception of color, though a diff icult y has 
been experienced in keeping them up to size. Prominent 
breeders are now overcoming this drawback. 

Comb, and Standard Weight — Identical with the Black 
variety. 

Plumage — White. 

THE BLACK SPANISH has not as many friends as for- 
merly. The impression is gaining ground that continual 
breeding for the white face has undermined the vitality of 
the breed. However, it may be that the difficulty of obtain- 
ing this pure face accounts for the lack of breeders of the 
bird. In egg production it resembles the Minorca. 

Comb — Single, rather large. 

Face — White. 

Plumage — Glossy black, with a green tinge. 

Standard Weight — Cock, 8 pounds. Hen. 61^ pounds. 
Cockerel. &^k pounds. Pullet. .514 pounds. 

There Are Others. 

There are yet other fowls from which a choice might be 
made, but as a class they have little reputation as egg pro- 
ducers, although individual instances of prolificacy in this 
particular will appear in this book. The question of breeds 
will have been gone into deeper than was intended, but, 
having "taken hold of the plow," it is deemed wise to omit 
no fowl which might by any chance be accepted as an egg 
producer such as might be satisfactory to the egg farmer. 
Birds that are omitted, are either distinctly non-utility 
breeds, or are inferior to those which have been named in 
their respective classes. 

The Asiatic Class. 

The Asiatics are considered to be table fowls rather than 
egg producers. They are of great size and mature slowly. 
They possess feathered legs to a greater or less degree, and 
are a fluffy, full-feathered class, composed of: 

Brahmas (Light and Dark); Cochins (Buff. Partridge. 
White, and Black); and Langshans (Black and White). 
Standard Weights- 
Light Brahmas— Cock, 12 pounds. Hen, 9% pounds. 
Cockerel. 10 pounds. Pullet. 8 pounds. 

Dark Brahmas— Cock, 11 pounds. Hen, 8% pounds. 
Cockerel, 9 pounds. Pullet, 7 pounds. 

Cochins (Buff. Partridge and White)— Cock, 11 pounds. 
Hen, S% pounds. Cockerel, 9 pounds. Pullet, 7 pounds. 

Black Cochins — Cock, 10% pounds. Hen, 8% pounds. 
Cockerel, 9 pounds. Pullet, 7 pounds. 

Black and White Langshans — Cock, 10 pounds. Hen, 
7 pounds. Cockerel, 8 pounds. Pullet. 6 pounds. 

The French Class.. 

These are composed of table fowls, pure and simple. Of 
course they lay eggs, but as in the Asiatics, it is only indi- 
vidual strains that distinguish themselves in this particular. 
The class consists of Houdans, Creve Coeurs, and La 
Fleche. 
Standard Weights— 

Houdans— Cock, 7 pounds. Hen, 6 pounds. Cockerel, 
«i pounds. Pullet, 5 pounds. 



Creve Coeurs — Cock, S pounds. Hen, 7 pounds. Cock- 
erel, 7 pounds. Pullet, 6 pounds. ^ 

LaFleche — Cock, 8I/2 pounds. Hen, 7% pounds. Cock- 
erel. 7% pounds. Pullet, 6V2 pounds. 

The English Class. 

This class is made up of ideal table fowls, that is, from 
an English point of view. The skin is white. In egg pro- 
duction they are about equal to the French class. The fol- 
lowing are the varieties contained in this class: 

Dorkings— White, Silver Gray, and Colored. 
Standard Weights- 
White Dorking — Cock, T/2 pounds. Hen, 6% pounds. 
Cockerel, eVo pounds. Pullet, 5 pounds. 

Silver Gray— Cock, 8 pounds. Hen, 6% pounds. Cock- 
erel, 7 pounds. Pullet, 5% pounds. 

Colored — Cock, 9 pounds. Hen, 7 pounds. Cockerel, 8 
pounds. Pullet, 6 pounds. 

Buff Orpington — Admitted to the American Standard in 
1903. A popular general purpose fowl, but somewhat larger 
than the American breeds of that class. Standard weights: 
Cock. lOVi pounds. Hen, 8% pounds. Cockerel, 9 pounds. 
Pullet. 7 pounds. 

The Game Class. 

With the exception of the Indian Game and Malay, this 
class is purely an exhibition collection, and possesses no 
standard weights. 

The Indian Game is a first-class table fowl, and has 
been freely used as a cross upon other breeds to improve 
their size or quality. It is a fair layer. There are both 
Cornish, and MTiite Indian Game. 
Standard Weights- 
Indian Game — Cock, 9 pounds. Hen. 6^2 pounds. Cock- 
erel, IVz pounds. Pullet, 5% pounds. 

Malay — Cock, 9 pounds. Hen, 7 pounds. Cockerel, 7 
pounds. Pullet, 5 pounds. 



The Hamburg Class. 



The Hamburgs are a small, rose comb breed, of great 
egg producing capacity; but their eggs are, in most cases, 
too small to be of use for market purposes. The class con- 
sists of: 

Black, Golden (Penciled and Spangled); Silver (Pen- 
ciled and Spangled), and Whites. 

No standard weights are allotted to them. 

Elxert Earnest Effort. 

And now, having offered such suggestions as have 
occurred to us as being necessary to your welfare, 
we ad\"ise you to study carefully, and not hastily, the 
experiences of the good men, who, for your benefit, have 
given of their knowledge in the subsequent pages of this 
book. Overlook not even the smallest items — these are 
often of the greatest importance — then, having the benefit of 
their many years' accumulation of knowledge, it simply re- 
mains with you to profit by it. 

Do not consider the poultry business a ready made 
recreation, but enter it with such a vim, with such earnestness 
as will assuredly present to you that which is most highly 
prized by every man who is a man — independence. 

ROBERT H. ESSEX. 



DEMAND 





AND SUPPILY. 

DEMAND FOR EGGS THE FARMERS' OPPORTUNITY. 



Poultry-Keepers Have an Inexhaustible Market for Eggs— Enormous Demand by the Export 
Trade— One City Alone Imports Eggs to the Value of About $7,000,000. 



By JOSEPH A. TILLINGHAST. of the Rhode Island Experiment Station. 



HAVE beeen asked to give you some practical 
thoughts on "Poultry on the General Farm." 
The importance of this subject in the course 
must be acknowledged when w^e consider, that 
with all the specialists in poultry culture, we 
must still look to the general farm for a large part of our 
supply. That you may not fear of over doing the business, 
at least for a little time, and to show the extent of the indus- 
try, let me give you a few figures. The dairy products of the 
United States for one year amounted to $254,000,000. We are 
in the habit of looking at this branch of farming as one of 
large extent, but we find the poultry products for the same 
year to be $560,000,000, or more than twice as much and still 
not enough, for during the same year 13,000,000 dozens of 
eggs were imported, and the total value of poultry and eggs 
Imported was probably $20,000,000. 

Immense Foreign Trade. 

This $20,000,000 ought to have been jingling in the pock- 
ets of American farmers and poultrymen rather than to 
have been sent to foreign countries. Even our little state of 
.Rhode Island used from outside of the state about $800,000 
worth of eggs. Britain imported eggs and poultry to the value 
of £5,675.000 sterling, or $27,637,2.50. London alone used 
other than English eggs to the value of $6,915,000. France 
reckoned the value of her poultry products at $77,920,000, 
from which she furnished her own people and exported 
largely. This large value we find derived largely from the 
farms. With such figures before us, a growing population, 
and a surety that as cost of production is decreased by skill- 
ful management, that consumption of poultry products will 
be largely increased, we may rest assured of a market for 
sorae time to come. Now let us look at some of the reasons 
for making poultry culture a prominent department on the 
general farm, and especially on our New England farms. 

"First in importance is the small amount of capital 
necessary to invest. You have doubtless read Fannie Fern's 
story of the shrewd Yankee, who. wishing to start in the 
poultry business, borrowed from one neighbor a broody hen 
and from another a sitting of eggs. He soon had a fine litter 
of chicks and was ready to return the hen to her owner. But 



how was he to repay the eggs? He soon solved that by keep- 
ing the hen until she laid the required number of eggs, re- 
turned both hen and eggs and 'guessed he had as fine a litter 
of chicks as any one, and about as cheap, too." 

"Next is quick returns. One reason why a farmer can 
not make money so rapidly as one can in many other lines 
of business is because he can not turn his money over 
quickly enough. Poultry keeping will help the farmer in 
this respect by giving him steady cash returns if the busi- 
ness be rightly managed. 

"Another and very important reason is greater profit. 
For the same investment of capital and labor no other de- 
partment of the farm will yield such generous returns. Dol- 
lars and cents are what all of us are striving for in business, 
so this is a most potent argument in its favor. You remem- 
ber the old saying, 'Take care of the cents and the dollars 
win take care of themselves.' This is a most excellent piece 
of advice, but I thiuk it would be still more applicable to the 
poultry business if it read like this, 'Look out for the sense 
and the dollars will look out for themselves,' for in no kind 
of work is good, plain, common sense more valuable than in 
poultry culture. Another reason especially applicable to 
our farms that are at a distance from market is that it is a 
concentrated product, easy to handle and market at a dis- 
tance, which is not true of more bulky products. 

"Still another reason is that waste products of other 
departments may many times be utilized, and instead of 
being a waste become a source of profit. For instance, 
dairying and poultry culture go hand in hand. When butter 
is made or cream sold, leaving the skim-milk at home, the 
milk will give far better results financially, fed to poultry 
than when given entirely to swine, as is so commonly done. 

"Fruit and poultry make a good combination. The fowls 
aid you in the fight against insect pests and also much of 
what would otherwise be wasted is made to be of value. 

"Another point in favor of this industry is that you are 
continually enriching your farm and at the same time deriv- 
ing a profit from the business. This is an important point, 
for much of our New England soil has been managed in such 
a v.-ay in the past that the farmer of to-day has the dif- 
ficult problem to solve of making a living and at the same 
time of bringing the soil from its worn out condition to one 



20 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



of fertility. I have seen this done by means of poultry cul- 
ture. A friend of mine has more than doubled the crop 
capacity of his land and almost entirely by this means. 
While I would not advise every farmer to take up poultry 
culture to the exclusion of other lines of farm work, yet it 
seems to me that there is a chance to make this a paying 
department on nearly every farm. Good markets are assured 
us in the many manufacturing villages of New England for 
fresh fruits, vegetables, poultry and eggs, and as we can in 
no way compete with the western farmers in the cereals and 
many other farm products, it seems to me that the salvation 
of the New England farmer lies in producing the best and 
freshest of such products as our city and village people are 
and always will be so glad to obtain. 

Method and Patience Brings Success. 

Now for a few thoughts as to how this line of work can 
be made a practical success. First, there are personal traits 
of character which underlie success in any business, and 
these must naturally be possessed or else acquired before we 
can look for the best results from a man's labors. He must 
have application, patience, persistence, and in every sense 
of the word be a hustler. Be on the alert for every new idea 
in your business, but do not be greedy and attempt to swal- 
low more than you can digest. Season your scientific knowl- 



edge with lots of common sense, and abov^ all. run your bus- 
iness on sound business principles. Be a genuine Yankee, 
but do not 'guess,' always know your business. Keep strict 
accounts and records and study them. A good system of ac- 
counts is the surest guide you can have to success in any 
business, and j'ou will find farming to be no exception, 
though comparatively few farmers keep them. Study your 
markets, the particular likes and dislikes of your customers. 
Learn to fill every want, and just as you wish it, and never 
know more than your customers. If you wish to make 
changes in any way, do it in such a manner that they will 
think they are the ones making the change rather than you. 
"Do not begin too expensively. Remember every dollar 
you put into business is an interest-bearing factor and must 
be accounted for out of your profits. Expensive or fancy 
buildings are not a necessity, but convenience of labor and 
proper conditions are. Make your plant cost as little as pos- 
sible, but do not sacrifice convenience or proper conditions 
under any circumstances. Above all, look after the details, 
for no department of the farm needs so close attention to the 
many little details, or will suffer so quickly for lack of atten- 
tion, as this. Careful attention to these littles, a love for the 
work, and a never failing will to succeed under any and 
every condition will bring you success. Never depend upon 
luck, but always spell it with a 'p,' and never expect success 
till you have earned it." 



REQUIREMENTS OF THE EGG TRADE. 



Market Requirements for Home and Export Trade in Eggs and Poultry— Preservation of Eggs 
— A Valuable Collection of Information for Poultry Farmers. 



Compiled by FRANK C. HARE, Chief of the Poultry Division Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, Canada. 



JGGS to be palatable should be eaten in a strictly 
fresh condition; therefore they should reach the 
consumer without unnecessary delay. This re- 
quires (1) that the eggs be collected regularly 
every day and stored in a cool room (temp. 40 
degrees F. to 50 degrees F.) until a sufficient 
number are on hand to deliver to a dealer; (2) that the 
dealer forward the eggs to the merchant at least once a 
week; and (3) that the merchant should protect the eggs 
from deterioration while in his possession. 

Some farmers are so situated that they can send fresh 
eggs regularly to the town or city consumer or merchant. 
When this is done, the farmer generally receives for the 
eggs a premium of several cents per dozen. The selling of 
fresh eggs to the exporting firms is a large business during 
the spring and summer months. 

The most profitable branch of the business is the trade 
in fresh winter eggs. There is a great demand for strictly 
fresh eggs every winter, and so far the supply has been very 
limited. 

Market requirements. — The shells of fresh eggs should 
be wiped clean, if necessary, and the eggs graded in size. 
For shipment the eggs should be packed into cases holding 
twelve dozens or thirty dozens each; all small, poorly- 
shaped eggs should be packed in a case by themselves. The 
color of the shells of the eggs is not a consideration on the 



home markets, but the exporting firms prefer brown-shelled 
eggs. 

Egg Preservation. 

It is important in keeping eggs for an extended time to 
pack none but fresh eggs. Stale eggs are not only bad in 
themselves, but they will affect those packed with them. 
Eggs must be fairly clean, as eggs that require washing are 
poor "packers." All eggs thus put away should be infertile. 
No food should be given the hens that would impart an ob- 
jectionable flavor to the eggs. 

Eggs can be preserved in lime-water, or placed in cold 
storage. 

Lime- Water Preservation.— The lime-water is prepared 
by slaking one pound of freshly burnt quicklime with a 
small quantity of water; the milk of lime so formed is 
stirred into five gallons (fifty pounds) of water. After the 
mixture has been kept well stirred for a few hours, it is al- 
lowed to settle. The supernatant liquid, which is now "sat- 
urated" lime-water, is drawn off, and poured over the eggs, 
previously placed in a crock or water-tight barrel. As ex- 
posure to the air tends to precipitate the lime (as carbon- 
ate), and thus weaken the solution, the vessel containing 
the eggs should be kept well covered. The air may be ex- 
cluded by a covering of sweet oil, or by sacking upon which 
a paste of lime is spread. If after a time there is any notice- 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



able precipitation of the lime, the lime-water should be 
drawa or siphoned off, and replaced with a further quantity 
newly prepared. The eggs should be completely immersed 
throughout the whole period of preservation. 

Although not necessary to the preservation of eggs in 
a sound condition, a temperature of 40 to 50 degrees F. will 
no doubt materially assist toward retaining a good flavor, 
or rather in arresting that "stale" flavor so characteristic 
of packed ^ggs. 

Cold Storage. — Eggs should be held in cold storage at 
a temperature near 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The air of the 
room should be dry and pure. Unless the egg cases have pro- 
jecting pieces that prevent close stacking, laths should be 
placed between -"i" 
cases to allow the ncc 
essary circulatiou oi 
air. The pores of the 
egg should not be 
coated with any pre 
servative, nor should 
the eggs be washed 

The following in 
formation concei u ng 
the requirements of 
the British egg mar 
ket is from the report 
of the Dominion Com 
missioner of Agi icul 
ture : 

"The grade of egg 
which is in good de 
mand in Great Britain 
is one weighing 15 
pounds per great hun 
dred, that is, lo 
pounds per 10 dozen 
which is equal to tw ■> 
ounces per egg oi 1^. 
pounds per dozen ^ 
small quantity im 
ported into Great 
Britain from Fi ance 
go as high ab 17 
pounds per great hun 
dred. For every 'lalf 

pound which eggs ^^ ^ 

weigh less than 15 "" ~i~^* ^r^ ~' 

pounds per great hun f^ '- _ 

dred the value is 1 bs ^ ,- ^ - 

ened by about one smg c l mi 

cent per dozen. 

"Eggs should be graded as to size. A higher value will 
be obtained for a given quantity of eggs graded into three 
sizes — large, medium and small^than if they are sent with 
sizes mixed promiscuously. Eggs of a brown shade of color 
are preferred. 

"The preferred size of egg case for export is a wooden 
case holding thirty dozen eggs, paper-filled — that is, having 
pasteboard frames with a separate space for each egg. These 
cases, holding thirty dozen each, measure about 28 inches 
long by 12% inches wide and 13 inches high outside. 

"For the safe carriage of the eggs, it is important that 
they should not be stored in a warehouse, on the cars, or on 
board the steamship, in proximity to any cargo from which 
they would acquire a flavor. The carrying of eggs with a 
cargo of apples has been known to impart to them a flavor 
which impaired their value. 



"They should be carried on the cars and on the steam- 
ship at a temperature of from 38 to 42 degrees Fahrenheit. 
When cases containing eggs are removed from the cold stor- 
age chambers, they should not be opened at once in an at- 
mosphere where the temperature is warm. They should be 
left for two days unopened, so that the eggs may become 
gradually warmed to the temperature of the room where 
they have been deposited. Otherwise a condensation of mois- 
ture from the atmosphere will appear on the shell, and give 
them the appearance of sweating. This so-called 'sweating' 
is not an exudation through the shell of the egg and can be 
entirely prevented in the manner indicated." 

Eggs that are placed in cold storage from April till July 
are shipped to Great 
Britain for the Sep- 
, _ tember and October 

trades. Eggs that go 
into cold storage in 
the fall are exported 
during the winter 
months. Cold storage 
eggs are sold in Great 
Britain as "Canadian 
■•' fresh eggs," and the 
prices last year (1901) 
ranged from 7s. to 7s. 
Gd. per long hundred 
(120 eggs) during Sep- 
tember and October, 
and from 8s. to 93. per 
\L long hundred during 
' November and De- 
cember. 

Pickled eggs should 
be exported to Great 
Britain so as to reach 
there during Novem- 
ber and December. 
The eggs that were 
sold during November 
and December last 
year realized 7s. to 7s. 
6d. per long hundred. 
"There is undoubt- 
^' " — '' edly a growing incli- 

.^_ - =- - nation among con- 
-. — " sumers to give prefer- 

:^=I^ — ence to Canadian eggs 

for winter trade, and 
ow.irei,horii^ the shipment to the 

United Kingdom may 
be very largely increased without injuring consumption, 
provided always in the first place that the quality is main- 
tained up to last year's standard; and secondly (a most im- 
portant one for Canadian shippers), that the price is not 

prohibitive." 

"We believe it is only a question of a comparatively 
short time when the American hen will be used almost ex- 
clusively for the production of eggs, rather than to have 
her valuable time wasted in doing work that can be done 
better and cheaper by artificial means. The hen has a 
monopoly in the production of eggs. We can hatch her eggs 
for her and raise her chicks, but we cannot manufacture 
eggs that will hatch. She will always be in demand, there- 
fore, and it is plainly to the advantage of poultry keepers to 
use her exclusively for egg production." — Grant M. Curtis, 
in Artificial Incubating and Brooding. 




DEMAND GREATER THAN SUPPLY. 



And the Demand is Increasing — Not Enough Fresh Laid Eggs, 



Editorial from the Reliable Poultry Journal. 




have received a letter of more than common in- 
terest from a firm of commission merchants in 
Boston. Mass. They write: "We are having a 
a constantly increasing demand for absolutely 
* fresh-laid eggs that are large in size, brown in 

color and which run uniformly fine. We probably 
receive more of this kind of eggs than any several of our 
friends in the business, and these eggs have usually come 
from henneries here in New England, but with increased 
inquiry they are not able to give us sufficient supplies. 

"l*ow, if you have in mind among your subscribers and 
acquaintances people who have large flocks of fowls which 
produce this kind of stock we would like very much indeed 
to have their names. The writer is and has been a sub- 
scriber to your Journal for several years and thinks by writ- 
ing to you we .-nay be able to make connections that would 



be mutually satisfactory with both shippers and ourselves. 

"We make a rule of always sending our check promptly 
for all eggs shipped and cannot see why we cannot make it 
to advantage to write to any names that you might send us." 

This letter is but one of many similar that we have 
received this winter; at least three such have come into the 
writer's hands within two weeks. What reply can be made 
to it? It is manifest that the supply of reliably "fresh-laid" 
eggs is insufficient to meet the demand, and the demand is 
increasing more rapidly than the supply. There is encour- 
agement in this fact for preachers of the gospel of "More 
Eggs and Better Eggs," for only in an increased supply will 
there be found a solution of the problem. Even then the 
demand increases more rapidly than we can hope to see the 
supply increase, for the more fresh eggs people get the bet- 
ter they like thera; and the problem is still unsolved. 



THE BOSTON EGG MARKET. 



Methods of Marketing Eggs at Boston— Brown Eggs Sell Best — How they are Graded- 
sale Prices During Consecutive Two Years. 



-Whole- 



BY GEORGE H. POLLARD. 



HE uses of eggs are so universal and so varied, 
^j»/4| that to fully cover the subject much space 

.JilOlik , would be required. Extensive excursions would 
Im'S.W ^^^® ^° ^^ made into, not only the more do- 
^^RJ mestic culinary branches, but the manufactur- 
^~~M. ing and mechanical arts as well. Obviously, all 
these cannot be suitably treated in an article of 
moderate length and scope, nor would it be desir- 
able. To the average mind it is fully as satisfying 
to know by the undoubted assertion of authorities on the 
subject that there is an ever increasing call for eggs, and 
that the supply of fresh eggs is seldom equal to the demand, 
as it is to have to wade through long rows and columns of 
figures and statistics in proof of the tacts asserted. Figures 
are delusive things, and though they never lie themselves, 
those who manipulate them often do. Did they not, few of 
us have the comparative faculty which would allow any just 
appreciation of numbers and quantities, which reach the 
magnitude of millions. The sense of comparison becomes 
bewildered and is lost in a maze of figures. Leaving to 
others the statistics of the case, we shall merely attempt to 
tell something of the conditions, together with the uses of 
and demand for eggs in the Boston market. 

There is no other branch of the poultry business which 
holds out such promise of fair and sure profit in return for 
sensible work, as the production of fresh eggs for the nearby 
markets. There are, moreover, few places where eggs can 
not profitably be produced and shipped to larger markets at 
considerable distances from th? point of production. There 



is no other farm product which can be so easily and readily 
packed and shipped. The main thing is that a reputation 
shall be established for prime fresh goods. The consumer 
will do the rest. There is no more fussy individual than the 
consumer of table eggs, consequently when you have given 
him what he likes and wants, you are assured of a steady 
customer, and — though there may now and then be some 
grumbling — fair prices. Eggs shipped from a distance, 
which may be relied upon to be true to the mark in color 
and quality, will find a ready sale in average times and con- 
ditions or the market, and are always sought after by the 
better class of trade. 

Eggs Shipped From Many States 

It may prove a surprise to some of our readers to know 
that the best average eggs in size and color come from the 
west. They are all packed in cases of thirty and thirty- 
six dozens each. The cases are divided in the center and 
are fitted with pasteboard fillers, which are the right size 
to leave a small compartment for each egg. There are three 
dozens in each layer on either side. The boxes are made 
of a tough light wood and are sold with the contents and 
are not returnable. In the earlier days from ten to twenty- 
years ago, most, in fact all, the western eggs used to be 
shipped east packed in cut straw, bran or oats, and were 
sent in barrels and boxes; the larger part in barrels, which 
were closely filled and shaken down and then securely 
headed and nailed. When the barrel was opened it was 
turned on its side, and pulling it along with the bottom 



EGGS AXD EGG FARMS, 



23 



end up the straw and eggs were left in winrows on the 
floor. While some suffered the fate of the under dog and 
were bruised and brolven, the casualties were wonderfully 
few, considering the circumstances. Cheap cases, while doing 
away with these methods, have also provided packages, 
which can be examined and the quality of their contents 
more easily determined. Indiana furnishes the best grade 
of boxed eggs (boxed is a term to distinguish the western 
and far away from the nearby stock); they are larger and 
better in style, i. e., shape, color and general appearance, and 
preferable in all seasons except the very hottest weather, 
when the Michigan eggs come in better condition and usurp 
the place, otherwise filled by the Indiana stock. When the 
mercury does its greatest climbing and reaches 90 degrees 
and over, the nearby eggs have the call for family and table 
use. Ohio eggs also hold a secure place in the affections of 
the trade. In the early spring Missouri eggs come good, 
but as the warm season approaches the quality rapidly de- 
ls are not fancy. They lack in style 
in color and have generally a very 






ir-^h. 



VA v:t:^' 



teriorates. Southern egi 
and are small in size, ofl 
inferior appearance. 
They also lack richness 
and flavor. It might be 
made an interesting 
subject of inquiry why 
this is the fact. The 
western eggs are Ac- 
counted the richest and 
best flavored eggs, ex- 
celling even the nearby 
in this respect. This is 
of course only during 
proper weather condi- 
tions, allowing them to 
gft through to the east 
in the best condition. 
This flavor is attributed 
by the dealers to the 
fact that the . laying 
hens get so much wheat 
in the west. The aver- 
age dealer prescribes 
wheat for eggs and , , , , 

Single Comb 

corn for fat. While 

the trend of recent opinion seems more in the favor 
of corn as an egg food, we doubt if it is fully determined as 
yet which of the two grains gives the better all-round results. 
At the present season (December) nearby eggs are scarce 
and are selling at 40 to 43 cents per dozen. The best nearby 
eggs are Cape eggs for the eastern and southeastern sections 
of Massachusetts, also Maine eggs. They are the best sellers 
and give the most satisfaction in warm and hot weather. No 
eggs are imported from Canada, or not enough to make an 
appreciable impression on the market. The duty prevents 
the importation at profitable figures. 

In the winter of 1898-99, however, during the memorable 
egg famine, quite a considerable number came from Canada 
to other New England markets. During the late fall and 
winter m.onths not so many western eggs are received and 
the demand is supplied by "held eggs." or eggs from the cold 
storage houses, where they have been kept in cold rooms 
till the demand encouraged their withdrawal. 

For cold storage purposes April eggs are accounted the 
best and are preferable to those of any other season. There 
arc. however, large numbers put away in September and Oc- 
tober, when prices are low enough to favor such a course, 
and the market gives indications of profits ahead. One of 
th^ reasons why .=0 many more April eggs are stored, is that 



the price is then at its lowest ebb. At the cold storage rooms 
they are kept in a temperature of from 33 to 34 degrees and 
will keep reasonably fresh, or rather sweet, for from six to 
seven months. In the Boston market brown eggs sell best 
and will average from two to five cents per dozen above the 
price to be obtained for eggs with white shells. This may 
be merely a fad or a fancy, but so long as it is a fact there is 
no use in trying to make the purchaser prefer otherwise. 
Generally the person who pays for the article is the one who 
does the choosing, while this rule may differ sometimes in 
millinery and dry goods, it will always hold good with eggs 
and poultry. 

Grading the Eggs. 

The New York market demand is the reverse of that in 
Boston and there white shelled eggs sell higher and are so 
quoted in the current market reports. 

All packages of eggs are opened and the contents 
inspected and candled by the 
are turned to the jobbing and 



, ji' 




j'-'viJ©t-««^ 



wholesaler before they 
wholesale trade. This 
is the invariable rule 
except where sold in 
large lots subject to the 
regular marks and 
grades of the wholesal- 
ers. They are tested, or 
to use the professional 
phrase, "candled,"' This, 
is done by passing tlle^ 
eggs before a strong 
electric light, which is. 
placed behind a tin 
shade, through whiichi 
are cut two holes. Th^ 
operator takes two eggs 
in each hand and pass- 
ing them before the 
light quickly deter- 
mines the grade and 
the relative freshness of 
the stock. Every egg is 
tested in this manner 
and the assorted prod- 
uct can then be graded 
and sold with a guarantee of the exact quality to be ex- 
pected. The candling is done by men who become very 
expert. The average for a day's work of ten houre is from 
fifteen to twenty cases, though at least one man can do 
from twenty to thirty eases. The men are paid by the day 
and earn from iflO to 12 per week. 

Many Uses for Eggs. 

The uses of the eggs are many. Aside from the con- 
sumption in the different arts and mechanical pursuits, the 
great mass of course find their chief end in some one of the 
many culinary purposes. The family use of course is gen- 
erally understood. Less may be known of their use in 
hotels, restaurants, etc. In cool or cold weather the restau- 
rants and hotels depend altogether upon western eggs for 
table use. The best grades are of good color and size and 
cost less than the nearby stock, while answering the pur- 
pose just as well. As the weather gets warmer and through 
the summer they fall back upon the nearby eggs and the 
consumption then helps out the market prices for fresh local 
stock. 

Many eggs are also used in saloons, drug stores, etc., 
where fanny drinks are sold. The number used in this way 
in a large city would amount to an immense total were it 



: Leghorns. 



-4 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



le to get the exact figures. The cheaper and poorer 
eggs go mostly to bakeries, where they are used in the pro- 
duction of the various pies, cakes and pastries which are 
made to tempt the New England appetite and help the vend- 
ers of dyspepsia tablets and spring medicines to a life of 
-wealth and elegant leisure. 

In candling the "heavy" eggs, that is, those with unset- 
tled and displaced yolks and such as are otherwise in a pre- 
carious stage of health, 5'et not really bad, are broken and 
the contents put in small cheap tin pails and when full the 
pails are covered and put in the freezers, where they are 
frozen solid and kept so until they are needed for use. They 
then are withdrawn, allowed to thaw out and take their 
place in the domestic economy of the bake-house, thence to 
fill an aching void in the being of some weary mortal. If 
the void did not previously ache it may fairly be excused if it 
suffers some pain under the influence of such doses as these. 
These frozen eggs cannot be successfully used in the making 
of custard pies unless they are previously put through a fine 
sieve, which breaks up the lumps and makes the mass 
smooth. This will be a valuable pointer to the housewife 
who wants to manufacture custard pie of disabled and frozen 
eggs. The general opinion has been that a bad egg could 
not be spoiled. This is so. perhaps, but they do come pretty 
near being saved. It is found that all considerable dealers 
in eggs are able to get from 25 to 50 dollars per year for the 
absolutely rotten eggs. Consumers of bakers' food will no 
doubt be pleased to know that they again have a share in 
the delicacies. They are put through a clarifying process 
and the good parts are used in the same old cookery schemes 
which appeal to the hungry. The parts which are too far 
gone for good results in the clarifying process are utilized 
in the manufacture of mucilage. The whites are said to pro- 
duce a very sticky article. The gathering of these bad eggs 
is made' a regular industry and is reputed to be a following 
which yields big profits. It certainly is a calling which has 
inherent strength. 

Methods of Marketing: Eggs. 

All western eggs are shipped to Boston by large western 
wholesale houses and are handled on the Boston end, either 
by direct agents of the western houses or through the 
medium of brokers who buy and sell on margins of so much 
per dozen. Very few small lots are received by the commis- 
sion houses because they, as well as the jobbers, prefer buy- 
ing of responsible and easily located firms, so in case of 
trouble or disputes as to quality of the shipments, the par- 
ties can easily be found and matters promptly adjusted. In 
the case of small local shippers this often cannot readily be 
done and the additional trouble and expense make the 
transaction loo burdensome. Contrary to the customs of 
other branches of trade in food products in Boston, nearly 
all the egg trade is confined to the city of Boston and near- 
by towns and cities. In all other departments of the pro- 
vision trade the dealers, through drummers and mail efforts, 
reach the whole of New England and gather together a 
trade which uses immense quantities of the various commod- 
ities sold. With eggs, however, the trade is more restricted 
and mo.'st of the outside cities and towns have local firms 



which get the bulk of the business. This result has been 
made surer and more complete by the Almost universal pos- 
session by every considerable community of either local or 
nearby facilities for cold storage. This gives the local deal- 
ers the same facility for handling and keeping boxed or 
western eggs, and this advantage is more generally followed 
in the egg trade than in the case of other products suscepti- 
ble of the same or similar treatment. As a rule all nearby 
and strictly newly-laid eggs are sold near the point of pro- 
duction, although in the aggregate large numbers are 
shipped to the Boston market. 

The facts all pointing to the special desirability of a 
supply of newly laid eggs during the months from Septem- 
ber to March, it seems proper that some attention should be 
given to the means whereby they may be had in sure and 
profitable numbers. A pretty comprehensive survey of the 
subject in a practical way shows only one method of attain- 
ing such results with any degree of surety. In order to get 
eggs at this season the pullets must be depended upon to do 
most of the work. The old hens are generally resting from 
their fall molt and will not produce with regularity, any 
number of eggs before the late winter and early spring 
months. Quite often March finds them only fairly under 
way. We must then have the pullets as workers, and not 
only pullets, but early pullets are absolutely necessary to 
gain the desired end. However much we' may read of the 
pullet which matures and lays in five months, we cannot 
depend on that time. The facts probably are that with the 
common stock under ordinary conditions the time of first 
laying will average nearer to seven months than it will five 
months. We believe this to be true of nearly all breeds. We 
must get our chickens not later than the middle of April to 
make a sure thing of the business, and March is even better. 

The conditions of successful hatching point to the use 
of the incubator and brooder, to artificial incubation, as the 
method which solves the problem of early hatched pullets 
and high-priced eggs. A full treatment of these means 
would, however, be not strictly in line with the spirit of this 
article, and so will not be followed. We append a statement 
of wholesale prices, for which we are indebted to Messrs. A. 
M. Stone & Co., of Boston: 

Wholesale Prices of Eggs at Boston. 

18'J?. Cape. Western. 1899. Cape. Western, 

March 31.. 12tol2^ Jan. 5 30to32 24 to27 

April 1 10',^tolO% Jan. 19....24to25 20 

June 9 13tol4 Feb. 16... .28 27 

June 23 15 tol6 Feb. 24. . ..35to36 35 to36 

June 30 11 tol2 March 2 . . .25to2,S 24 to28 

July 7 16tol7 17 tolS March 16.. 15tol6 14 tol5 

July 14...18to20 131^tol4 April 13. ..16 13% 

Aug. 18...20to22 14 June 1.... 18 13 tol4 

Sept. 15..21to22 July 27.. ..21 13 tol4 

Oct. 13 . . . 23to25 Aug. 31. . . . 21to22 15 tol6 

Oct. 20... 25 18V4tol9 Sept. 28... 28 17 tol8 

Nov. 10..28to30 19 to23 Oct. 12 28to30 18 to20 

Dec. 1....32to35 21 to25 Nov. 16. . ..30to32 20 

Dec. 22...32to35 22 to26 Nov. 23. . ..32to35 19 to23 

GEORGE H. POLLARD. 



EGG MARKET IN EASTERN CITIES. 



A Regular Rise and Fall in Prices— Some Remarkable Differences in Prices — A Better Quality- 
Demanded — Regular Egg Collecting Depots Desirable. 



A. F. HUNTER, in the Reliable Poultry Journal. 




STUD\ of the market quotations or prices of 
eggs in the three leading eastern cities is ex- 
ceedingly interesting, and some profitable les- 
sons may be extracted from them. There is 
a regular rise and fall in market prices, which 
frequently compared to the rise and fall of the tide; the 
rise of price in the autumn is due to the scarcity of supply, 
and the fall of price to an increasingly abundant supply. A 
curious example of a great Jump in prices is seen in the 
March quotations in 
the table given here- 
with. A severe cold 
wave and snow block- 
ade passed over the 
country in February, 
greatly checking egg 
production and so ham- 
pering travel over the 
country roads that the 
egg supply was largely 
cut off for about two 
weeks. Cold storage 
stocks were exhausted 
and the cities were 
pretty much short of 
eggs, causing a very 
unusual jump in prices 
of eggs of all grades. 

The three great cit- 
ies of Boston, New 
York and Philadelphia 
receive regularly, from 
the great agricultural 
states of the central west, enormous quantities of eggs; in 
fact, the eastern cities are the regular outlet for the surplus 
product of the western states. And it is surprising, in view ot 
the fact that poultry and egg production is so great in the 
New England and Middle States, that there should be so 
constant a demand for those products from other sources, 
but the explanation of it is found in the fact that the great 
bulk of the population of those eastern states is of the con- 
suming class, and there is a constant demand for all kinds 
of food products to supply their needs. This is true not only 
of the manufacturing cities and towns, which are commonly 
spoken of as consumers in contra-distinction to producers, 
but in many secetions there is a steady demand for food 
supplies which are not produced locally; in some instances 
also there is an interchange of such products, owing to the 
demand in one market for a particular quality drawing to 
that market all of the product of another state, and the 
immediate local supply being exhausted creates another 




Rose Comb White Legli 



Boston Wants Them Brown. 

A curious example of this exchange of products the 
writer came upon in visiting the Boston markets in the 



month of March last. A large commission house, that han- 
dles hundreds of thousands of cases of eggs each year, has 
a \'ery great call for a fancy brown egg that is strictly fresh- 
laid, such as usually command a premium of three to five 
cents a dozen in that market. At the time mentioned we 
were shown, iu the storehouse of this firm, twenty to 
twenty-five cases of fine, brown, strictly fresh eggs received 
that day from Maine — and at the door was a stack of twenty 
cases of choice western eggs being loaded onto a dray to be 
carted to the Portland 
boat for shipment to 
Maine At that time 
strictly fresh" were 
selling at twenty 
to twenty-three 
tents a dozen and 
hnice western" at 
ut eighteen cents. 
i^e western eggs had 
I 1 rreight paid on 
them trom the western 
states to Boston, had 
been candled to test 
them for freshness and 
quality, and now were 
' ' 'ng shipped to Maine 
ake the place of the 
: tly fresh, fancy 
urown eggs, which 
Maine was shipping to 
the Boston market. In 
one sense they did not 
take the place of those 
sh, fancy brown were 
one case here and an- 
e choice western were going 
ion house, and would be sold 
such, for example, as the city 
of Portland and the manufacturing cities of Biddeford, 
Saco, etc. At the time of greatest scarcity of strictly 
fresh eggs, which is from Thanksgiving time to Christmas, 
there is a considerable diiterence in price between the fancy 
brown, strictly fresh and choice western eggs, and it might 
seem reasonable then that such an exchange as we have 
described would be profitable, but at the time of which we 
speak, with a difference of only three to five cents, it would 
look as though there was but a very small margin of profit 
in the transaction. 

Boston prefers a brown (or brownish) egg and is willing 
to pay a premium for that preference. New York as a rule 
prefers a pure white egg, but we are assured by producers of 
eggs for the New York market that there is some call for a 
fine brown egg, which is called a "table egg" in New York 
and adjacent cities, Philadelphia mainly prefers brown 
eggs, but on the whole is not willing to pay so high a price 
for a choice article as is New York or Boston. Boston is 



eggs because 
shipped from 
other there, while 
to a Portland comm 
to consuming centers 



the strictly 1 
country towns 



26 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



undoubtedly the best paying egg market in this country, 
as a comparison of the prices quoted, as well as the fact that 
so many large shippers prefer to send their supply there, 
attests. We have arranged a table of the monthly quota- 
tions for one year in columns, so that a comparison can be 
made, and the generally higher average prices in Boston are 
manifest at a glance; the difference ranging from one up to 
as much as eight or nine cents per dozen on the best quality 
which we have listed as "strictly fresh." 

Grading: the Eggs. 

For convenience we have quoted but four grades, 
namel.v, strictly fresh, choice eastern, fresh western, and 
cold storage; the latter being mostly western eggs put into 
cold storage in April. May and June, and sold at the time of 
greatest scarcity in the late fall and winter months; it will 
be noted that storage eggs are not quoted in March. April, 
May, June, July, August and September, although at times 
a few of them are sold during these months; in October they 
are quoted in New York and Boston, but not in Philadel- 
phia; in November, December. January and February they 
are quoted in Boston, New York and Philadelphia. There 
are gradations of these market reports which we cannot 
spare the space to enter into, for example, eastern eggs are 
in some market reports listed as choice, fresh, fair to good, 
Vermont and New Hampshire choice; western appear as 
Michigan. Indiana and Illinois choice fresh; do. candled; 





EASTERN EGG 


MA 


RKET 


S IN 1902. 




MONTH. 


«...,TV. 1 «OS™.. 


.KWVOKK. 


I'HIL.^. 


January... 


Strictly Fresh 

Choice Eastern 

Fresh Western 

Cold Storage 


30t 
21 


'35. up 
to 30 
to 22 


iTf 

17 to 19 


28 to 30 
26 to 28 

11 \Vi 


February . 


.Strictly Fresh 

Choice Eastern 

Fresh Western .... . .. 

Cold Storage 


30 
24 


to 27 
to 27 
to 23 


11 IVi 

23 to 26 

20 to 23 


25 to 30 

24 to 24!^ 
20 to 22 


March 


Strictly Fresh 

Choice Eastern 

Fresh Western 


35 
34 
34 


to 35 

to 37 
to 37 


37 to 39 
36 to 37 
37 


i to 34 

33 


April 


Strictly Fresh 

Choice Eastern 

Fresh Western 


20 
16 


to 25 
to 18 
to 17 


16 to 17 
16 to Ibii 
15 to 16 


16 

15 to 16 

15 


May 


Strictly Fresh 

Choice Eastern 

Fresh Western 


19 
18 


to 20 
tol8J^ 
to 18 


18 to 19 
17 to 17"^ 

i6j^ to n-* 


ui4 


June 


Strictly Fresh 

Choice Eastern 

Fresh Western 


19 

m 


to 17 


18 to 18!i 

n ton. 


WA to 17 

17 


July 


Strictly Fresh 

Choice Eastern 

Fresh Western 


20 

If 


to 27 

to 19 


19 to 20 
1? to 18 


18 to 19 


August 


Strictly Fresh 

Choice Eastern 

Fresh Western 


i 


to 26 
to 21 
to 19^ 


21 to 22 
19 to 20 
18ii to 19 


18 to 19 

18 

16 to 17 


September. 


Strictly Fresh 

Choice Eastern 

Fresh Western 


27 
21 
18 


Si'^ 


22 to 23 
19 to 21 
19!i to 20 


21 

19 to 20 

21 


October.... 


Strictly Fresh 

Choice Eastern 

Fresh Western 

Cold Storage 


21 
19 


to 30 
to 25 

to 21 


21 to 22 
20 to 21 
18 to 20 


24 

21 to 22 

22 


November. 


Strictly Fresh 

Choice'Eastern 

Fresh Western 

Cold Storage 


28 
23 

21 
1814 


Hi 
to 23 
to 21 


i 't^g 

?0 to 24 
19 to 21 


24 

22 to 23 
21 to 23 
18 to 21 


December.. 


Strictly Fresh 

Choice Eastern 

Fresh Western 

Cold Storage 


25 
18 


to 30 
to 27 
to 21 


28 to 30 

24 to 25 

24 

17 to 21 


29 

26 to 27 

28 

18 to 21 


Average of 
Twelve 
Months. 


Strictly Fresh 

Choice Eastern. 

Fresh Western 

Cold Storage 

(5 Mos.) 


Win 

215-6 
20 3-5 


21 -K 
19 2-5 


231-12 

2U'"' 



western selected, fair to good; and cold storage eggs appear 
as April and summer; the April eggs Wing worth a cent to 
a cent and a half more per dozen than those graded as sum- 
mer. In New York reports the highest quotations are for 
New York and New Jersey and Pennsylvania fancy selected 
white; fresh gathered, fancy mixed, New York and Pennsyl- 
vania, then fair to good, and held and mixed; western are 
quoted as best fresh gathered, average prime, fair to good, 
inferior; Kentucky and Tennessee fair to prime, inferior. 
In the Philadelphia prices current they are classified as 
Pennsylvania and near-by, western, southwestern, southern, 
refrigerator firsts and seconds. These different gradations 
of eggs tell very much to the expert marketman, but not 
very much to the average reader, who cannot understand 
the intricacies of the different qualities under consideration; 
this is our excuse for condensing the divisions of our table 
into strictly fresh, choice eastern, fresh western and storage 
quotations. 

Talking with marketmen themselves we find that there 
are still other qualities, such as "dirties,"' "cheeks," 
"cracks," etc., and it would be well if farmers knew how 
much the dirty, checked and cracked eggs shrink the value 
of the eggs they sell. That shrinkage (or loss) does not 
fall on the marketman, nor on the shipper who forwards the 
eggs to market, — it invariably falls on the farmer, in the 
shape of a lower, average price for all the eggs he sells. A 
marketman in speaking of this one time used a case of eggs 
he was repacking as an example. He threw two and a half 
dozen soiled (stained) and small eggs out of the thirty 
dozen ease, and filled the places with other "choice western" 
eggs from another case. "There," said he, "these eggs are 
now worth twenty-five cents a dozen by the case, while 
before grading them up they were worth but twenty-two 
cents"; in other words, the twenty-seven and a half dozen 
of choice eggs were worth $6.87% when the thirty dozen of 
poorer quality eggs were worth but $6.60, the putting in of 
the two and a half dozen of small and dirty eggs had low- 
ered the average value of the whole, the twenty-seven and 
a half dozen would have actually brought the farmer more 
money if he had shipped them by themselves, keeping the 
two and'a half dozen of soiled and small eggs at home. The 
bulk of the farmers, however, do not ship their eggs; they 
sell them to the local store in trade or to the collector, who 
in turn ships them to the city commission dealer and this 
round-about method of getting so perishable a product to 
the table of the consumer is in many ways unfortunate, 
causing evident deterioration of fine quality, and that deteri- 
oration effecting a shrinkage of price, as well as a lessening 
of demand. 

Cause of Loss of Quality- 
One 'ause of deterioration in quality in eggs is their 
being left lying in boxes, etc., iu the country stores for days 
at a time when the temperature is so high the germ of life 
begins to develop; this could be largely prevented by farm- 
ers killing off the pernicious and worse than useless .surplus 
males and breeding males instantly the hatching season is 
over, and having no male birds running at any time with the 
birds kept for egg-laying only— the male bird should only 
be allowed to associate with the females whose eggs were 
used for hatching. The loss (waste) of these eggs in which 
the germ has started is almost beyond belief. I have seen 
a carload of western eggs (received in Boston in June) test 
a little over fifty per cent "struck." and a New York egg 
commission dealer told me he had seen the loss run as high 
as forty to fifty per cent in very exceptional cases; it seems, 
a pity that farmers should be so blind to their ov.-n 
interests. 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



Talking with one of the editors of the New 
York Produce Review about this he said he had 
seen a full three-quarters of the eggs collected in 
Kansas (in June and July) hopelessly bad, and a man 
and team had to be hired to haul them off and bury 
them! This well illustrates the desirability of there being 
regular egg-collectors (similar to cream collectors), who 
will gather the eggs daily, store, pack and ship them to mar- 
ket in refrigerator cars. This is done in some countries. 
In England the "National Poultry Organization Society" 
has for one of the duties of its depots the collecting of eggs 
of tlie members, and in Denmark there is an egg association, 
into which some 24,000 farmers have been joined. In the 
latter country the eggs are collected into the district sta- 
tions, each member's eggs being numbered and marked with 
his letter and figure so that, upon candling them, a bad one 
can be revealed and the farmer contributing it detected. A 
first offense is punished by a fine and a second offense 
by expulsion from the 

association; as the ' 

farmers get a substan- 
tially better price 
through this co-oper- 
ative marketing they 
are naturally .lealous of 
thei'- reputations and 
are careful not to put in 
an egg that is in any 
way doubtful. We in 
America have much to 
learn about the best 
methods of marketing 
our farm products to 
the end that they re- 
turn UP the best prices 
and also that they 
reach the consumer in 
the best possible condi- 
tion: the former direct- 
ly appeals to our pock- 
ets, the latter tending Ro-i Lomi. i; 
to a promoting of the 

appreciation and greater consumption of our products. That 
suggestion of regular egg collections similar to the cream 
collections is worth thinking of. Why cannot the two busi- 
ne.sses be united and one collector handle both products? 
It would effect a saving in cost of collecting by dividing the 
cost between the two lines of products, and effect an in- 
crease in average returns for eggs marketed. Why not put 
the thing into operation'; A. F. HUNTER. 



Score Card — Eggs. 



Large and oval and showing a similar- 
ity in size 

Color 

Very dark brow-n for brown eggs and 
very white for white eggs over all the 
shell 

Weight 

The heaviest standard and others to be 
cut one-half point for every ounce un- 
der the heaviest 

Condition ' 

Fresh laid and perfectly clean. 



Total 

Disqualifications 
Double yolk. 



100 




sound and cracked eggs 

Judge. 

During the last three 
or four years the Bos- 
ton Poultry Association 
has given much encour- 
agement to dressed 
poultry and eggs, offer- 
ing attractive premi- 
ums, cash and other- 
wise. The result has 
been two or three large 
and interesting dis- 
plays. The size and col- 
or of eggs are impor- 
tant matters. So are the 
color of the yolk and 
the flavor of the egg. 
All these matters bear 
weight with the fastidi- 
ous eaters and their im- 
portance will increase 
rather than diminish. 
The utility poultry- 
111 r.cKhonis. man, and the fancier 

back of him, who gives 
serious thought to these matters, will act wisely. They 
have to do with the foundation principles of poultry for 
profit. "More eggs and better eggs" should be the com- 
panion motto to "Better poultry and more of it." 



LEGHORNS AS LAYERS 



SCORE CARD FOR EGGS. 



From the Reliable Poultry Journal. 

L'R friends down around Boston who think a 
great deal of utility poultry — and for good rea- 
sons — have formulated a score card for judging 
eggs. Principally it is the brain work of Mr. 
George V. Fletcher, breeder and judge of Light 
and markotman, though he took counsel of other 
wise heads. 

Neither the public nor the fancy would object if this 
should be the thin end uf the wedge which will some day 
rend asunder the custom of merchants who charge one price 
for eggs, be they large, small, good, bad, or indifferent. 



Go into the smallest village of Europe or America and 
the Leghorn will be found crowing as cheerily, strutting as 
proudly, and flying the fence as aggravatingly as here in the 
center of chickendom, and every man, woman and child will 
tell you these are some of its characteristics and will add 
with the greatest assurance — "it is the best layer on earth." 

There is no doubt that continual selection of this breed 
for egg production has been the means of placing it at the 
front in that respect. As a general thing the average citi- 
zen, speaking of a layer, has in mind the Leghorn, and 
knows no other; yet the type of Leghorns differs in each 
country. If an English bird were placed beside an Ameri- 
can production, there would be seen few points of similarity 
except, perhaps, in color, and this dissimilarity in types of 
Leghorns seems to have had little effect upon their egg-pro- 
ducing capacities. — R. H. Essex, in "The Leghorns." 



PRIVATE TRADE IN POULTRY AND EGGS. 



Wh/ This Trade is Desirable— What It Demands— Eggs Must be Strictly Fresh and Attractive 
— How to Build Up and Retain Trade at Premium Prices. 



By JOHN H. ROBINSON, Editor Farm-Poultry. 




HERE are two reasons why a market poultry- 
man who wishes to sell his goods direct to 
consumers and thus retain for himself all pos- 
sible profits must produce extra choice arti- 
cles. First, because it costs as much to pro- 
duce poor eggs and poulti-y as it does to pro- 
duce stock of superior quality, and costs more — takes more 
time and trouble— to sell the poor stock; and, second, be- 
cause unless he does produce extra choice goods he can not 
get and hold the trade which buys good poultry and eggs 
freely and is willing to pay the price for them. 

In eggs tho demand of the best trade is for a strictly 
fresh article of good quality, medium to large in size, with 
the color of the shell a matter of indifference in all but a 
very few markets. If your trade prefers eggs with shells 
of a particular color, dark brown or pure white, it is good 
business policy to cater to this demand. Never make the 
mistake of trying to force or persuade the trade to take 
something which it does not want. 

The trade wants simply fresh eggs. In winter an egg 
less than a week old will readily pass as strictly fresh. In 
summer an e.gg more than three or four days old begins, 
usually, to be a little stale. As the sale of eggs is the main- 
stay of a private trade in poultry products, deliveries must 
be so timed as to keep customers always supplied with fresh 
eggs. There will then be two regular deliveries each week 
in summer and a weekly delivery in winter, and it will be 
found that this system is also well adapted to the needs of 
the dressed poultry branch of the business. But eggs which 
have no merit but their freshness will not suit this trade. To 
please it an egg must be of good quality. Fresh eggs can be 
procured from any hens that will lay at all, but nice, rich 
eggs come only from hens in good condition and well-fed. 
To keep a large stock of hens, producing a steady supply of 
eggs quite uniformly up to the standard of the trade we are 
considering, is no light test of a poultryman's ability. 
Working Up a Business. 
It is not hard for a poultryman who is producing what 
the best trade wants, to work up a good route of profitable, 
prompt paying customers, who will stay with him through 
all seasons, year in and year out. It is not hard, but it 
takes tact, patience, time and, above all. some diligent solic- 
iting. If one has read and remembered the old saying, "All 
things come to him who waits," now is a good time to forget 
it. Those who wait for this trade do not get it. It is the 
special perquisite of those who go out and hustle for it. As 
has been intimated, the way to get it is by personal solicita- 
tion. There may sometimes be an exceptional case, where 
it will pay to advertise for this trade. As a rule advertising 
would not pay, because the volume of business is small, be- 
cause the expense would be too great in proportion to the 
probable returns from advertising, and because it is desira- 
ble that the route should be kept as compact as possible. Our 
experience in advertising in local papers for this trade was 
that our advertisement appealed most to persons we did not 
want as customers, because we could not deliver to them 
without extending cur routes more than the amount 9f their 
purchases would justify us in doing. 



Our best drawing card when soliciting custom was this: 
"Take a dozen, or two dozen, or as many as you want of our 
eggs. Try them. If you don't find them better than what 
you are using you need not pay a cent for them. If you find 
a Dad egg in a lot bought from us, we will give you a dozen 
fresh eggs for it." In selling poultry we would sometimes 
make a special price (the regular market price) for a trial 
purchase, to a person whose custom it seemed worth while 
to make a special effort to secure, always, of course, giving 
them to understand that the special price could not be ob- 
tained on future purchases. This little scheme was a good 
trade-getter. 

As the poultryman's trade, like the order-wagon trade, 
of the grocer and butcher, is solicited at the kitchen door, it 
is well for him to get his dealings at each house on the right 
basis at the start and keep them there. 'When he first solic- 
its custom at a house his errand should be to the mistress 
of the house, and if any fault is found with the goods he 
should ask to see her for explanation or adjustment of the 
matter. Many housekeepers give the purchase of supplies 
th^ir personal attention, but often the girl in the kitchen is 
the active agent in the buying of table supplies, and, if she 
is not too honest, or if she wishes to favor the grocer— who 
also has eggs to sell, and who occasionally makes her a 
small present — or if she has a tender interest in the driver 
of the meat wagon, it is the easiest thing in the world for 
her to give your trade a black eye. Right here is where 
many find the family trade in poultry products disagreeable. 
It is not always pleasant to have to do business under the 
conditions described, and one would, perhaps, rather let the 
matter drop and lose his customer than go to the trouble of 
putting things straight. But he ought not to let such a mat- 
ter pass without being made right. He can not afford to let 
a customer quit dissatisfied with his goods and displeased 
with him when there is no ground for dissatisfaction, and the 
displeasure should fall elsewhere. After good goods, pleased 
customers are one's best advertisement, and after poor 
goods, the lost customer who thinks that he has a grievance 
can do a trade the greatest injury. 

One important consideration in soliciting trade must al- 
ways be your ability to supply customers regularly and 
fully. The agreement to do this will often secure trade when 
other considerations fail. Such an inducement, however, 
ought never to be offered unless one is sure of being able to 
carry it out. It is not a wise thing to do to take on all the 
regular customers you can get at the season of the year 
when your plant is producing best. If you do you soon find 
it necessary to drop some of them, and in that case it may be • 
Jifficult to get their custom again when you w^uld possibly 
be in a position to handle it permanently. 

Finally, it is only in rare cases that a poultryman can 
build up a good private trade in eggs and poultry if he 
attempts to handle the products of others. If he knows his 
business as he ought to, aud produces genuinely choice stuff, 
he will find that not one person in ten of those from whom 
he could buy has goods equal to his own. He will find also 
that, like himself, those who have good stuff to sell want all 
the proft there is in it. JOHN H. ROBINSON. 



CANDLING EGGS BY MACHINERY. 



The Importance of the Egg Trade Exerts an Influence in the Handling of the Product — An 
Invention that Tests Over Twenty-six Thousand Eggs an Hour — How it is Operated. 



By WILL B. CORWIN. 



|GG candling by machinery is tlie latest innovation 
to be introduced by Swift & Company in their 
cold storage plant at the stock yards, Chicago. 
The new machine is the work of an English in- 
ventor and is being used exclusively in our coun- 
try by this firm. It has a capacity of 26,020 eggs per hour, 
and requires twenty people to operate it. 

The machine in itself looks like a great dry goods box, 
oblong in shape, and standing upon its end. On either side 



the north end of the machine. The defective eggs likewise 
are placed on a "chute" just below the other, to be used later 
as land fertilizer. Eggs that are so badly cracked as to affect 
their sale are broken and the white and yolks separated and 
placed in cans, which are taken into the freezer and the 
contents frozen. Eggs of this quality are sold to bakers 
and used by them in their baking operations. After the 
gond eggs have passed along the rollers and have run the 
gauntlet of the keen eyed experts, they finally roll out upon 




.\nEx 



Egg-C.indling Ma 






there are two curtains which drop down after the expert in- 
spectors enter and prevent light from striking upon the eggs, 
which would hinder their being candled with so much effect- 
iveness. On one end, as shown in the picture, is the receptacle 
wherein are deposited the eggs. This receptacle consists of 
a shalIo<v trough, eighteen inches wide and three inches 
deep. On the bottom of this trough there is an endless rub- 
ber belt. This revolves and carries the eggs along the 
"chute" into the "inspection" booth, where they are depos- 
ited upon a set of grooved rollers — twelve in number — which 
are constantly revolving. Beneath these rollers there are 
four powerful electric lights with reflectors which throw the 
light upon the eggs, causing them to become transparent. 

Inside this booth are stationed four experts, whose duty 
it is to detect the defective eggs, also those that are cracked, 
as they pass along upon the rollers. The cracked ones are 
placed upon an upper "chute" and carried to the receiver on 



Twenty-six Thousand Eggs an Hour can be Examineii. 

a rubber belt which carries them into chutes similar to the 
one into which they are first deposited, and from this recep- 
tacle they are gathered up by the packers and then placed 
into crates. On the upper right hand corner of the machine 
may be seen the "controller." This operative controls the 
speed of the machine and when he finds the inspectors are 
getting behind because of the large number of defective and 
cracked eggs, he slows down the machine to enable them to 
catch up. 

The former method of candling eggs by hand re- 
quired anywhere from forty to fifty persons and their 
idi^as could not be made uniform, hence their inspec- 
tion would not be as satisfactory as by this new method. 
Superintendent C. 0. Young claims the machine will be able 
to do better and more rapid work as the operatives become 
accustomed to their work and the positions necessary for 
rapid handling of eggs. WILL B. CORWIN. 




^EQGS 



-^-. -.:^ FOR PROFHT 







A WHITE LEGHORN EGG FARM. 



A Matter-of-Fact Account of What the Editor of the Reliable Poultry Journal Saw During a Visit 

to the White Leghorn Farm of C H. Wyckoff — Not an Outside Dollar Invested 

in the Business; The Fowls Paid for Everything. 



"V-y^ 



HEN a man has succeeded to the extent that 
Mr. Wyckoff has, he owes it to his con- 
science to tell other people how he did it. 
We can afford to be our brother's keeper 
to that extent. It gives us pleasure to say 
that Mr. Wyckoff agreed fully with this 
view of the case and has promised to write 
ont^ or more articles for R. P. J. readers as soon as he can 
spare the time. The winter season finds him with leisure 
time at his disposal and we may therefore look forward to 
some valuable help from him. What he gives us will be 
facts, pure and simple, gleaned from his personal experience. 
We desire in a plain way, in imitation of Mr. W^yckoff's 
modest recital, to tell the i-eaders of the Reliable the story 
of this man's success with poultry. It is perhaps a story 
without parallel, though there is nofhing fabulous or im- 
probable about it. It is a story of oneness-of-purpose, of 
steidy effort, of intelligent application, of making the most 
of one's opportunities, be they great or small, which is the 
true measure of man or woman. 

Years ago Mr. Wyckoff came to his present home a 
moneyless man. There lived near, on a sixty-acre place, an 
old man who was very anxious to find a purchaser for his 
weed-grown farm. He v/anted to sell so bad that a man 
without any money was able to buy. Mr. Wyckoff's father 
went security for the first payment (deferred) and loaned 
tho son enough cash to half way stock the farm, buy a few 
tools and put some seed in the ground. On entering upon 
the task of reclaiming and paying for this neglected farm, 
with its tumble-down buildings, Mr. Wyckoff had in mind 
the poultry business. He had touched the business lightly 
while living in Ohio, and was of the belief that there was 
good money in it for him. Being without funds he had to 
begin small. The first year he owned twenty-five mixed 
hens, which were housed in a ramshackle building. These 
he soon replaced with some Plymouth Rocks and Brown 
Leghorns. From eggs sold from these he saved up ?75 dur- 
ing one winter and spring and invested in White Leghorn 
eggs. A year later he had a flock of 180 White Leghorn 
hens. This was his third year on the place. His hens now 



began to serve him in good earnest. It so happened that 
market eggs went up a kiting that winter and in .January 
alone his flock of Leghorns earned him $90 in eggs laid. 
From that year on new buildings and parks were gradually 
added, the hens paying for everything as they went along. 

Said Mr. Wyckoff: "It is the plain truth that after the 
money which I spent on those first twenty-five mixed hena 
I never invested an outside dollar in my poultry. They 
gradually earned every dollar, every cent that went to buy 
mere hens, to build new houses and new parks. It took five 
or six years for me to get things fairly under way, but as I 
had no money I could not do otherwise. All I could rake 
and scrape out of the farm went for interest on the purchase 
price, or was put back onto the place in improvements of 
various kinds. To-day you see what I have as the result of 
fifteen years work, with the help of my hens. The farm has 
been paid for these two years, and my hens did it. Yes, sir, 
they not only bought and paid for themselves and the quar- 
ters they live in, but paid every dollar of the purchase price 
of this farm. I am now selling about $4,000 worth of pro- 
duce from this place each year and fully $3,500 of it is in 
poultry and eggs. I keep cows and market butter, but my 
cows cost me all they earn and have for the past three or 
four years. During the past two years I hfive cleared $2,800 
from my poultry." 

The Houses. 

Let us briefly describe Mr. Wyckoff's place as we found 
it. He has seven double poultry buildings 12x40 feet in size 
and one single house 12x20. The 12x40 foot houses are di- 
vided into two equai apartments and each of the fifteen 
apartments opens into a park 33x128 feet. These parks are 
fenced with 1x3 inch unplaued pine pickets six feet in height. 
At the bottom laths are nailed to the stringer between these 
pickets to prevent the fowls picking each other through the 
fence. The houses are placed some thirty feet apart in or- 
der to make room for the width of the parks. The partitions 
in the houses are boarded up "so that the fowls in one side 
will not know what is going on in the other and throw them- 
selves against iiic partition when I am feeding." explained 
Mr. Wyckoff. 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



31 



The housts aiv built of common, implaned, fool-wide 
barn-sidirg, with double roofs, shingled. The walls are of 
two thicknessps of the foot-wide boards, with building paper 
between, but no air space. No artificial heat is used. Last 
winter was a recorl breaker for low temperature. The mer- 
cury went down to 36 below zero. In the above described 
houses the combs of a few male birds were slightly nipped, 
losing the slim points of some of the serrations, but Mr. 
Wrckoff reports that he has never yet found one of his 
White Leghorn hens with a nipped or frost-bitten comb. One 
important reason for this is to be found in the small win- 
dows in his houses. 

Mr. Wyckoff uses board floors in his houses and told us 
he could not keep them dry until he did put in the board 
floors. During the winter time dampness is sure to come up 
out of the ground into the poultry house, being drawn out 
by the warmer atmosphere of the house. One of two things 
should be done: Either fill in four to six inches of cinders 
or dry gravel and put three or four inches of fresh earth on 
top of this material, or 
use board floors. We 
prefer cinders and 
earth, with three to five 
inches of cut litter on 
top of this, but man> 
prefer board floors. No 
matter how a poultij 
house is built, it will be 
moist on the intenor 
during extreme wintei 
weather. Frost w 
gather on the walls 
during the night and 
melt during the day 
time, creating moisture 
but this can be largely 
avoided by constructing 
a floor as here recom- 
mended and by thor- 
ough 1 y airing the 
houses every day that 
the fowls are let out in 

Single Comb 

the yards. 

Leghorns, or any 
oth^r variety kept for winter eggs, should not be 
allowed the freedom of the yards during stormy days 
or when a bitter cold wind is blowing; In fact, we 
should not let them out even on sunshiny days when the 
temperature registers below ten degrees above zero. Leg- 
horns' combs will freeze in bright sunshine when the ther- 
mometer is six above zero. Where the scratching shed plan 
is used canvas curtains are placed in front of the scratching 
sheds, inside of the wire netting, and on cold stormy days 
the fowls are let out into these sheds. Here they are pro- 
tected from the wind and much of the cold. Protected in 
this way, they will lay when fowls kept in the ordinary way 
will not lay an egg. 

Mr. Wyckotf's houses are quite large in size, which is an 
advantage. They are double boarded and have quite small 
windows. These small windows keep the house warm at 
night, and as each apartment contains fifty fowls, they help 
keep one another warm. Solid board partitions separate the 
two apartments. Houses thus built have proved comforta- 
ble for active fowls like Leghorns, even during severe win- 
ter weather. Should it be thought necessary to provide 
greater warmth, this can be done by building a cover over 
the roost poles a few inches above the heads of the fowls 
and dropping a curtain down in front, reaching below the 




roost poles, this curtain to be thrown back out of the way 
during the day time and again let down during severely 
cold nights. The top or cover of this inclosure can be made 
of burlap, or of thin boards, the latter preferred. By this 
arrangement, all the heat that is generated by the bodies of 
the fowls and that thrown off by their breathing will be 
confined in narrow limits and will increase the temperature 
ten to fifteen degrees. The smaller the inclosure, the greater 
the warmth. 

Hens yarded fifty to each park were kept by Mr. 
Wyckoff solely for market eggs, not for breeding purposes. 
Where hatchable eggs are wanted and the breeders have to 
be kepi confined in moderate sized yards, one Leghorn male 
to fifteen to twenty females is the limit, where best results 
are sought. If a vigorous yearling or two-year-old cock bird 
is used, twenty hens are not too many. On an egg farm 
where 2,000 to 5,000 layers are kept, an acre or two should 
be devoted to the breeders. This same plan of houses will 
serve all purposes, but instead of putting fifty hens to each 
pen, fifteen to twenty 
and one male bird 
should be the limit. 
Thirty to forty hens 
with two male birds 
will not do so well, un- 
less the yard is planted 
with rows of corn or 
contains shrubbery. 
Where fowls used for 
breeding purposes have 
considerable range, 
with shrubbery or 
other obstructions to an 
unlimited view located 
thereon, they may be 
allowed to run in large 
flocks, as they do on an 
ordinary farm, accom- 
panied by a half dozen 
or more male birds, but 
in confinement in small 
yards where all the 

iff Letrhorns. , • , ■ • a ««« 

birds are in view of one 
another, this plan will 
not give the best results. Mr. Wyckoff does not get 
nearly as many eggs during December, January and Febru- 
ary as he does during March. April and May, but he gets 
a number, even during the winter months, enough so that 
the last year he kept a careful record: his six hundred hens 
averaged one hundred and ninety-four eggs per hen. So 
far as our knowledge goes, this is the best record reported 
thus far for so large a number of layers. 

Among the illustrations accompanying this article will 
be found one showing the floor plan of Mr. Wyckoff's style 
of house, one showing a simple construction of roosts, and 
another showing the style of nest boxes which he recom- 
mended. We do not remember what style of nest box is used 
by Mr. Wyckoff. We would advise that in houses of this 
kind partly closed nest boxes be located under the windows 
or along the front wall of the house and that a lid be built 
partly over them as shown in the illustration, this lid ex- 
tending six inches or so beyound the edge of the nests in 
order to darken to a still further extent the interior of the 
nests and thus prevent egg eating, to a degree. Nests located 
under the v/indows in this manner will be sheltered from the 
direct 'ight. 

For Leghorns, make the nests twelve inches square and 
not more than seven inches high. This is lower than com- 



32 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 




mon for hens' nests, 
but Leghorns can 
readily get in and 
o u t, and if the 
height does not per- 
mit of their standing 
up, there is less dan- 
ger of their picking 
at their eggs, break- 
ing the shell and 
thus becoming con- 
firmed egg eaters, an 
abomination in the poultry business. Fill the nests an inch or 
so deep with fresh earth and put cut straw, or common straw, 
on top of this for nest material. The soil in the bottom of 
the nests will prevent the hens pushing all the straw aside, 
leaving the bottom of the nest bare, thus presenting another 
danger of egg breakage. These broken eggs and their in- 
viting appearance encourage egg eating, which we should 
take every precaution to prevent. 

The roosts may be made of 2x4's, rounded off on one 
edge and stood on edge in slots and sawed in the end cleats. 
They should be removable for cleaning and oiling. For Leg- 
horns, if supports are located under the roosts at a distance 
of five or six feet apart, 2x4's may be ripped lengthwise, 
yielding pieces 2x2 inches in size for roosts. This will an- 
swer just as well as twice as much value in lumber put into 
the roosts. 

A droppings board, to be located under the roosts and ex- 
tending out twelve to fifteen inches in front of them, is rec- 
ommended as a matter of convenience and cleanliness, al- 
though it is not essential. The use of a droppings board 
keeps the droppings out of the way of the fowls, which is an 




a d V a n t a ge. 
This droppings 
board may be 
quickly cleaned 
every day or 
two by using a 
simple rake 
made by nail- 
ing a lath or 
similar strip ot 
wood to the 
end of a broom 
handle. By 
making a V- 
shaped rake of 
this kind, the 
droppings can 
be drawn for- 
ward into a bucket or basket and quickly removed. Fresh 
earth, ashes and slacked lime are good materials to dust on 
the droppings board to keep down the odor. Earth is a good 
absorbent, and one need look no farther for a suitable mate- 
rial for this purpose. 

The fences used by Mr. Wyckoff are built in the ordi- 
nary way with 2x4 stringers, to which are nailed 1x4 pickets 
sharpened at one end. These pickets are six feet high and 
the fence is the same height, Many will be surprised that 
Mr. Wyckcff's hens keep their place when separated by a 
simple low fence of this kind. As pullets they do not keep 
their places so well, but as hens, they become wonted and 
cause little trouble. It is not often that one of the hens 
leaves her yard, but if she does no damage is done except 
that Mr. Wyckoff prefers to have an equal number in each 



1 of Nest 1 



> Preve 



Egg V.:> 




1 o. Houses and Yards in Use on Egg Farm .4 C II 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



s33 



yard and house. Pullets of all varieties of fowls cause far 
more trouble than hens in the matter of flying fences. They 
are much lighter in weight and perhaps more giddy. As 
hens they become decidedly heavier and more sedate in their 
manners. 

If difficulty should be experienced in confining the fowls 
to their runs a single wire may be strung about six inches 
above the top of fence. It should be so small as to be nearly 



or quite invisible to the fowl from the ground. If she flies 
for the top of the fence, as they generally do, to alight upon 
it, the single wire will prove an obstacle to further attempts 
to get out. 

ITse your fowls well. Do not excite them, and you will 
experience little difficulty in this connection. It is the 
flighty, excitable layers that fly the fence on the slightest 
provocation. 



POULTRY FOR PROFIT ON TEN ACRES. 



"If we owned or controlled ten acres of land and proposed to go 
into the poultry business to make a living out of it, and decided that 
we were not qualified at present to undertake the breeding of stand- 
ard poultry, we should undertake the production of eggs in large 
numbers, beginning on a moderate scale and increasing as rapidly as 
we thought best." — Editor of the Reliable Poultry Journal. 



NE result of what we have seen in our rather ex- 
tended travels among poultrymen, east and west, 
has been a growing belief that among the practi- 
cal branches of the poultry business, that of pro- 
ducing eggs to be sol'd on the market at a prem- 
as "strictly fresh," and as "eggs for hatch- 
in small and large lots, is the safest and one 
of the most proiitable. If we owned or controlled ten acres 
of land and proposed to go into the poultry business to make 
a living out of it, and decided that we were not qualified at 



turn 
ing" 



present to undertake the breeding of standard poultry, we 
should undertake the production of eggs in large numbers, 
beginning on a moderate scale and increasing as rapidly as 
we thought best. 

We never visit a poultry show and see the choice speci- 
mens of the different varieties that we do not feel a strong 
desire to go in debt for about 500 acres of land and cover the 
whole area with a poultry farm, and to spend the rest of our 
life trying to breed choice specimens of every variety in the 
American Standard of Perfection. This is not exaggeration. 




FIG. J. POULTRY HOUSES WITH SCRATCHING SHEDS AND YARDS WITH GREEN FOOD LOTS. 

Note.— This plan is re 



34 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



but a statement of fact. If we had the time we shcuM be in 
the poultry business neck deep, not only breeding standard 
specimens, but conducting an egg farm of large proportions, 
producing eggs for a select market and eggs for hatching in 
incubator lots and in small lots. One season when we were 
in the poultry business on quite a large scale we sold within 
less than five hundred of fifty thousand eggs for hatching. 
For incubator eggs in 100, 200 and larger lots we obtained 
IS to $12 per hundred, and for eggs in single, double and 
triple sittings, $2, $3.50 and $5, respectively. We did not sell 
eggs from our best matings at any price, nor did we adver- 
tise to do so. Occasionally some visitor to the farm induced 
us to part with a sitting at from $3 to $5 per thirteen, but 
every time we sold a sitting of the choicest eggs even at 
these high prices we regretted it. Somehow money is not 
an equivalent for a sitting of eggs from one's favorite mat- 
ing, or for a favorite breeder. 

A. & E. Tarbox, breeders of Silver Laced and 
Buff Wyandottes, decided some four years ago not to 
sell any more eggs for hatching. They then were obtaining 
with ease $5 per thirteen. They decided that they could not 
afford to sell for $5 the chances, in the thirteen eggs, of 
hatching and raising a $1.5, $25 or $40 bird, hence, discontin- 
ued the practice of selling 
eggs and have sold none from 
that day to this. Sharp 
Brothers, proprietors of Oak- 
land Poultry Farm, breed- 
ers of Buff Cochins, Light 
Brahmas, and Cochin Ban- 
tams, quit selling eggs when 
they were readily obtaining i. 

$10 per sitting for Buff Coch- ' { 

in eggs. They, too, decided [ (;.;.■::.. • :. . , | 

that they could not afford to_ [ - j 

sell their chances in thirteen 

of these eggs for a ten-dollar 

bill. The above are facts and 

they are nqt exceptional. We could fill several pages with 

cases of this kind. Those given should be sufficient to show 

what can be done in produciing standard poultry. 

It must be understood, however, that it takes years to 
learn how to produce exhibition stock and to establish a 
strain of standard fowls that will reproduce themselves to 
a profitable extent. We are well acquainted with men who 
have been in this branch of the business ten to twenty 
years and who are still free to confess that they are puzzled 
every season at the new- facts that arise and the unexpected 
results which present themselves. Nevertheless, these exper- 
ienced men are the ones who approach nearer and nearer 
to perfection in standard breeding, and they are the men 
who readily secure from $10 to $30 each for the best pullets 
they will consent to sell, and $25 to $75 each for the best 
cockerels they are willing to part with. 

We repeat hers what we stated above — if we owned or 
controlled ten acres of land and proposed to go into the 
poultry business to make a living out of it, and decided that 
we were not qualified at present to undertake the breeding 
of standard poultry, we should undertake the production of 
eggs in large numbers, beginning on a moderate scale and 
increasing as rapidly as we thought best. 

On this and following pages are shown illustrations of 
laying houses with scratching sheds as used on extensive 
egg farms, also by many breeders of exhibition stock 
throughout New England and the east. We do not remem- 
ber to have ever visited an egg farm, or the yards of a poul- 
try breeder where the green food lots shown in the large 



illustration on page 33 are in use, but we recommend this 
addition, f.nr it is of special value. ^ locating these green 
fool lots as shown in Fig. 1, they can be used by the flocks 
of fowls ranging in the large yards connected therewith, or, 
if it should be convenient, the flocks of fowls in the houses 
adjoining the green food lots can be turned into them 
through openings in the scratching sheds or in the closed 
part of the houses. 

The dimensions of the houses and yards shown in Fig. 1 
are as follows: Closed part of house 10x15 feet; scratching 
shed, 10x10 feet; regular yards, 25x75 feet, green food lots, 
25x25 feet. Each of these houses with the yards connected 
will accommodate 10 to 50 fowls, depending on the object for 
which they are kept. If kept for breeding, 10 to 20 hens and 
one male bird will do best; if for eggs for market, 30 to 50 
heni can be kept in each closed house with scratching shed 
attached by using the green food lots and giving the fowls 
admission to these lots one or two hours each day. Green 
food like rye, oats or blue grass can be kept growing in these 
lot.=! during the entire season. Rye will last far into the 
winter, in fact, will stay green underneath the snow and fur- 
nish green food whenever the snow disappears. We have a 
rye patch thi? winter that has been green since last fall and 

« 15 rt. i. 



|"'iiil||;i|r'"l«l[||l """llltlljl; H|!;J|I 

I '"I]] Iljll] i '»llllj IIIJII 

I[i| '""ll|||l|| ' Illjllll ■""tHli^l 



ppi 



f RONT VI£W WITH WIRE SCREEN &DOOR TO 5HED. 



has furnished an abundance of fresh green food to many 
growing chicks and adult fowls since early last October. 

We recommend a liberal supply of gates, as shown in 
Fig. 1. Locate horse gates in front of the long houses, so 
that you can drive along with a cart or wagon to remove the 
droppings and litter from the houses and scratching sheds 
and can haul in new material by the wagon load. Locate 
small gates connecting the green food lots with the regular 
yards, also with one another. 

The windows in these houses should be comparatively 
small, say 21/2X0 feet, that is, windows made of two six-light 
sashes, one sliding to the right and the other to the left. 
These half-sashes are inexpensive. A still better plan is to 
hinge them at the Lop, so that they can be swung outward, 
thus keeping out the rain when open in the summer time. 
Prop them a third way open. It is a good plan to whitewash 
them, with a view to keeping out a portion of the heat dur- 
ing hot weather. 

In a majority of cases the houses of this style that exist 
in New England and the east are covered with rooting paper 
held in place by wooden strips, but we recommend a shin- 
gled roof in every case. Shingles will be found cheaper and 
more satisfactory in the end. Twelve-inch wide boards will 
do for siding, and the house should be snugly lined with 
good building paper or tar felt. There is no danger whatever 
of making a poultry house too warm. On the other hand it is 
unwise to go to unnecessary expense. Make sure that no 
draft can get in through cracks to strike the fowls when at 
roost for this is certain to result in colds, with roup in pros- 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



35 



pect. Do not worry about ventilators, i)rovided the houses 
are kept reasonably clean. Plenty of fresh air will find its 
way, in, especially during the winter time, when it is most 
needed. No ordinary poultry house is likely to be built tight 
enough to keep out the necessary fresh air. 

Fig. 2 shows an enlarged front view of this plan of 
house with scratching shed, giving dimensions. Any per- 
son who is handy with tools, by consulting these illustra- 
tions, can build a house of this style, and equip a poultry 
plan: on this plan. 

Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the style of partition 
recommended for use in dividing each closed section into 
two apartments and for use between the scratching sheds. 
It is advised that these partitions in both locations be built 
up solid four to six feet, so that there will be no fighting 
through the wires by the birds, either when on the roosts or 
in the scratching sheds. Furthermore, this plan will make 
the houses and sheds warmer and will lessen the danger of 
drafts blowing over the fowls at night. 

Fig. 4 shows ground plan of closed house with scratch- 
ing shed attached, also location of roosts and nests. 

Fig. 5 shows style of nests. These should be located on 
the ground underneath the windows. If the top lid be made 
^^^\.o extend over the 
PARTITION y-^^.\ openings to the 

BETWEEN THE SHEDS .- ngsts, thus render- 

ing the interior 
darker, it may pre- 
vent egg eating, 
t It will be under- 
stood that this plan 
can be added to or 
enlarged as desired. 
A single house with 
scratching sheds can 
i-K-.'- be built, or a dou- 

ble house with two scratching sheds and yards 
or any number of the double houses, as shown in Fig. 1. 

Questions of Timely Interest. 

Under date of January S, 1900, Mr. H. L. Keller 
writes as follows: "Editor R. P. J.— I have read 
with interest your article entitled 'Poultry for Profit on Ten 
Acres,' as I have just bought ten acres and will embark in 
the poultry business. Permit me to ask a few questions. 

(No. 1.) In starting an egg farm, how would a cross of 
a White Wyandotte male with Single Comb White Leghorn 
hens do for winter layers? 

(No. 2.) Under the same conditions as to food and care, 
would this cross produce more eggs than the pure White 
Wyandottes? 

(No. 3.) Do you suppose a hen house that has corn fod- 
der placed around the north, west and east sides would be as 
warm as one with a double wall; 

(No. 4.^) Are mangel-wurzels or cow beets good for 
poultry in winter? H. L. Keller. 

(No. 1.) First rate, but with this disadvantage: You 
could not sell eggs for hatching to the many people who 
every year want straight Wyandottes, nor stock for breeding 
purposes of these two popular varieties. Mr. C. H. Wyckoff 
and others who are engaged in this branch of the business 
sell thousands of eggs for hatching every year, obtaining $2 
per sitting, $3.50 for two sittings, $5 for three sittings in a 
single order, and $10 per hundred in hundred lots. Not only 
thi?, but these men .sell dozen.? of cockerels and hundreds of 



pullets to persons who desire stock from egg-laying strains 
of standard-brprl White Leghorns. By standard-bred we 





OROUND PLAN. 

Hi<;.4. 

mean that they would not be disqualified under the require- 
ments of the American Standard of Perfection, and while 
they are not bred as closely to the standard as some special- 
ty breeders bring them, they are, nevertheless, standard- 
bred. We are of the opinion that the cross referred to would 
lay but few more eggs than the straight Wyandottes. They 
would not lay as large a number of eggs as straight Leg- 
horns, so if eggs are wanted, why not use straight Leghorns, 
and secure the advantage of selling eggs and the surplus 
cockerels at good prices. 

(No. 2.) Question No. 2 we have already answered. We 
remember that Rollins Brothers, during a number 
of years past, have made a practice of crossing 
White Leghorn males on Light Brahma females, the result 
being pullets that at maturity resemble White Plymouth 
Rocks, exc3pt that their legs are feathered to an extent and 
tbey have a variety of combs, some single, some pea. These 
pullets, however, lay splendidly, lOS of them averaging one 
season 153 eggs each in about nine months and they were 
kept confined during the entire period in flocks of 22 in a 
poultry house 12x60 feet, divided into pens 9x12 feet in size. 
Only pullets were used in this case, for as soon as they 
started to molt in August at the beginning of their second 
year, they were bundled off to market and young stock five 
to six months old was put in their place. 

(No. 3.) Yes, and warmer. In constructing a poultry 
house with double walls, tongued and grooved lumber should 
be used, if the expense can be borne, and special care should 
be taken to line the inner side of the outside wall with a 
good grade of tar paper or tar felt. Even then the boards 
will warp and crack during changing weather, and in the 
winter time the cold and cold winds will find their way in to 
reduce the temperature of the interior, especially at night. 
Six or eight feet of corn stalks stood on end on the north 
and west sides of a poultry house will keep out the wind and 
help greatly to render the interior comfortably warm. The 
roof, as a rule, is the coldest part of an ordinary poultry 
house. Where sheathing is used and the boards are left one 
or two inches apart and shingles placed on top of this, any 
amount of wind is sure to sift in, making the house cold 
and creating drafts. Before the shingles are put on cover the 
sheathing (which, in 
our judgment, should 
be laid close togeth- ^| 
er) with a good quali- 
ty of tar felt or heavy 
building paper. See 
that the edges lap 
three to five inches. 
This will add much to 
the warmth of the 
house. 

(No. 4.) Yes, they 
are first rate. Per- 
mit us to quote here 
from an article we 




ARRAt^GEM£NT Of NLiU 



36 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



wrote shortly after we had visited the egg farm of Mr. 
Wyckoff, Groton, N. T.: 

Green Food Important. 

The noon meal consists of the green food to be fed for 
the day. During the winter months he feeds mangel beets 
and cabbage; during the summer time clover and kale. He 
raises these foods in sufficient quantities. He gets clover 
started as early as possible, and after it is three to five inches 
high, feeds it until mid-summer weather burns it up; then 
he begins on kale, which renews itself and lasts him until 
freezing weather kills the plants. Kale looks like a cross 
between beet tops and pie plant. We do not know how 
better to describe it. The leaves look like pale green beet 
leaves, but are much larger. As the outer rows of leaves 
are picked off new ones come out of the heart of the plant 
and keep on doing so until winter-killed. It is certainly 
a great boon to poultrymen. Mr. Wyckoff had. when we 
were there, a patch of about 25 feet wide by 150 feet long, 
which gave him all he needed for his 1,200 fowls and chicks. 

The mangels used by Mr. Wyckoff are the large variety 
commonly fed to stock. They are used by him during the 
winter. He runs them through a cutter, slicing them up 
as fine as he can and feeding them in troughs. The cabbage 
is fed in much the same way. Even in the matter of green 
food, Mr. Wyckoff aims to give his fowls only as much as 
they will eat up readily. He wants them to eat th=ir fill, 
but has nothing for them to waste. 

In connection with the noon feed of green food some 



whole grain (not much of it) is scattered in the litter in the 
houses to "work" the fowls more or iffes. The green food, 
however, is their main diet at noon, and Mr. Wyckoff lays 
great stress on its value as an egg-producing food. Said he: 
•■Iiseemstomethat I would almost rather stop feeding grain 
than green food. That is, of course, an extreme statement, 
as green food is mainly an appetizer and bowel corrective, 
but I could not do business without a daily ration the year 
around of green food." 

The evening meal with Mr. Wyckoff's fowls consists of 
mixed whole grain as follows: Two bushels of wheat, two 
bushels of oats, two bushels of buckwheat and one of corn. 
This is the proportion for summer feeding: in the winter 
time he increases the corn to two bushels, thus using equal 
parts of the four grains. As a variety he feeds barley with 
the above if it is lew-priced. All grain is fed in litter. He 
prefers that they shall pick up at night all he feeds them, so 
they will meet him in the morning with sharp appetites. 

Salt is given now and then in the soft food, though but- 
termilk is used each week along -with the skimmed milk and 
sour milk to moisten the soft food, and this buttermilk con- 
tains salt. During the winter time boiling water is used to 
moisten the soft food whenever milk is short. This swells 
the food before it enters the crop, but makes it only barely 
warm, not hot. Hot, steaming food in winter time is a mis- 
take, as it opens the pores of the skin unnaturally and sub- 
jects the fowls to sudden colds, with roup in prospect. Said 
Mr. Wyckoff: "I want the soft food as dry as I can get it 
and still be able to say it is moistened." Sloppy food of any 
kiud loosens the bowels and brings on debility. 



REMUNERATIVE PRICES FOR GOOD EGGS. 



Where Do All the Bad Eggs Originate?— Preserve the Flavor— Gather and Market Them Fre- 
quently — Not Merely Fresh, but New-laid. ■ 



Report of A. G. Gilbert, Manager of the Poultry Department, Experiment Farm, Ottawa, Canada.) 



r t ^ HE operations of the year have been successful 
Jf'\_ beyond the average. There has been a marked 

/ ^jl? and gratifying increase in the number of far- 
.|^^; mers who are giving their poultry proper care 
^^^^" and management, so as to make them revenue 
producers. In a letter lately written by Mr. David 
Moir, a farmer near Almonte. Ontario, and a director of 
the North Lanark Agricultural Association, he says: "There 
has been more money spent for lumber and tar paper, 
wherewith to build poultry houses, since last spring, than in 
five years. ' 

Among the subjects treated in this report are the differ- 
ent markets for eggs; the cause of so many bad eggs being 
placed on the market; how to prevent bad eggs from being 
placed on the market; the result of different rations in egg 
production: the chickens hatched, their care and progress; 
characteristics of different crosses, and other matters which 
it is hoped will be found interesting and instructive to the 
farmers and the poultrymen of the country. 

The laying stock during the moult was carefully 
looked after. No attempt was made to stimulate egg pro- 
duction during that period. The hens, however, were fed a 
generous diet, in order to induce the growth of new feathers, 
and they had the run of a grass and clover field in the rear 



of the main poultry building. As soon as they were com- 
pletely over their moult they received a liberal allowance of 
cut bone, and winter laying had fairly commenced by the 
end of November. 

As in previous years green cut bone was found a valua- 
ble incentive to egg production, and also beneficial, in 
smaller quantities, during the moulting period. 

The British Market Prices Unlimited. 

That our farmers are beginning to realize the value of 
their poultry as money makers, is evidenced by the increas- 
ing demand for information as to the proper care and 
management of their birds, as well as by the increasing 
number of new laid eggs placed on the market in recent win- 
ters. If may be said that if a greater number of eggs are 
being placed on the winter market, there will soon be 
enough to supply that market. Granted that there has been 
a greater supply of new laid eggs in recent winters, there is 
also the fact that prices were never higher in Ottawa and 
Montreal than they were last winter, which goes to show 
that if there has been greater production there has also been 
a correspondingly increased demand. 

Observation and experience of the market in recent 
years led to the conclusion that the winter market is not the 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 17 

only paying oae, but that there is a great and growing de- figure is placed upon the manure, which is valuable when 
mand in the summer months, for new laid eggs of unim- made into a compost. It may be said that the cost of pro- 
paired flavor. ducing the egg is greater in winter. But this statement may 
As for the English market it is practically unlimited. A be met by the other, that ihe cost of production is little in 
bulletin issued from the finance department in October, 1892, summer, for at that period the farmer's hens, in most cases, 
states in effect that an unlimited, steady and profitable are allowed to forage for their living. So that the cost of 
trade can be done with England In Canadian poultry and $1.25 per hen per annum is very fair— if anything it is on the 
eggs. high side. It will be seen that eggs, at the summer price of 
Remunerative Prices in Canada ^'. ^J°f P-r dozen, afford a paying margin. Surely, then, 

with Ihe modern and cheaper rations, prices during the win- 
In proof of the high prices of winter, it may be stated ter season should be much lower, and yet afford a fair profit. 
that the writer attended an agricultural meeting in Montreal But the summer price of 12 cents per dozen is a mislead- 
during January of 1895, when he was informed by several ing one, for in reality it should be placed at twice the figure, 
farmers present that they had sold new-laid eggs the week Twenty-four cents per dozen for eggs in midsummer? Yes, 
previous at 60 cents per dozen to choice customers. It is but and in this way: It is a well known fact that during the 
right to say, at the , midsummer months 
same time new-laid , -» \ -X^ It is hardly possible 

dozen, according to f^^^^^^js:^''\v''^'''hl '^V^^-^^^Pv^^^^^^^l^^^W ^^^ making the six act- 
only the rich could •^-^. , ^'' V * ' * 'J^^-^ ,^^'**^'- "" ^'^^^ P'^*^®' ^°' ^ ^^' 
indulge in. If eggs ' ~ ;.* "^ ^>5i,-.^» ~ _ liable article than 
were put on the <■ -aft „ **** »''>-, ^ half the amount for 
Montreal market — ;~- » ^^* - jV" ^' inferior goods. There 
during the winter in -r-^' - * — " — - ^ "^^ /'' '® "*' indention to 
such numbers that i.^~ '^, ".*''., .-— " ^^^ ^^^'^ °"'" fa^r^^rs 
lower prices would ^^"<*^ " " ' ^_- *"„ " ^ »■ "" ' ^"^ bring into the mar- 
follow it is only rea- ' kets, or sell to the 
sonable to suppose oa.icd nviu'^uL., i^u^^.,. dealers, or that the 
that more people latter dispose of bad 
would purchase them. There is no reason why the great or ill-flavored eggs, knowing them to be such. On the con- 
masses should not be supplied with new-laid eggs in winter, trary, the farmers as a rule unfortunately give as little 
rather than the ill-flavored, artificially preserved article, at attention to the age or condition of the eggs they are taking 
a price within the reach of all, and there yet remain a pay- to market as they give to the fowls which laid them. The 
ing margin of profit to the farmer. In order to find out question may be asked, How can we tell what the inside of 
what are remunerative figures, the summer market prices, at an egg is like? How can we distinguish the bad eggs from 
about their lowest points, viz., 12 to 15 cents per dozen, are the good ones? 

taken. The following calculation is made, based on the ex- Practical Advice to Farmers. 

perlence of several practical breeders: The answer to the above queries is that while the far- 

100 eggs from hen for 1 year, at 1 cent each $1.00 ™er is not supposed to be in the van of poultry lore as to the 

10 chickens hatched by her, at 10 cents each 1.00 means of discovering partially hatched, or ill-flavored eggs 

Body of hen to sell or eat 2-5 from the new laid ones, yet there are simple precautions 

""TT which may be taken in order to secure the new article, and 

Deduct cost of hen for year l!25 ''^'^^^ ^^ '^ '^i '^"'^ bound, in the interest of his customers, to 

take. By observing the following, eggs of fine flavor may be 

$1.00 sold during the entire summer season: 
We have, according to the foregoing, a margin of $1 per 1. Keep no male bird with the laying stock. 

hen profit per annum, taking eggs at 12 cents per dozen. No 2. Collect the eggs once or twice every day. 



38 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



3. Take no eggs to market, gathered from under barns, 
nests in the fields, or from stolen nests. 

4. Prevent, if possible, the laying hens eating decayed 
vegetable or animal substances. 

5. Keep the eggs, after gathering them, in a cool, sweet 
atmosphere. If in a cellar, let it be dry. 

6. Keep the nests the layers use clean, comfortable and 
free from vermin. 

7. Have a sufficient number of nests for the layers. 
Offer every inducement to the hens to lay in these nests and 
noL shun them. 

8. Allow no brooding hen to sit on the new laid eggs, 
be iu for ever so short a period. 

9. Take the eggs to market clean and inviting in ap- 
pearance. 

10. Make it a rule to take no eggs to market that you 
are not sure are fresh, or that you are doubtful about the 
flavor being good. 

The question is frequently asked and much speculation 
indulged in as to where all the bad eggs come from, par- 
ticularly in summer-time? And that leads to the question: 
What is a bad egg? 

In the past eight years large numbers of eggs have been 
handled in our poultry houses. Many eggs have been put 
under hens, or in incubators, and close observation has been 
made of these eggs during incubation, and afterwards of the 
eggs which failed to produce chickens. The eggs, in course 
of incubation, were also tested at the end of six or seven 
days and note taken of the varied appearances presented. 
No small amount of experience was gained, and it leads to 
the classification of the different sorts of eggs met with, and 
the cause therefor, as follows: 

1. The fertile egg, in which the germ is in a well ad- 
vanced stage, with the promise of making a strong, vigorous 
chicken. 

2. The addled egg, or one in which the germ has 
started, but for some cause its progress has been arrested, 
when decay sets in and you have a very ill-flavored article. 

3. The clear or unfertile, which contains no germ and 
presents the appearance of a new laid one. 

4. The egg containing a broken or ruptured yolk, and 
which presents a similar appearance to No. 2. 

The state of Nos. 1 and 2 can only result from fertiliza- 
tion. 

No. 2 is the egg most frequently met with, and is prob- 
ably the result of taking eggs from nests under barns, or 
stolen nests, or nests on which the hen has been sitting 
some days. 

No. 3, the clear or unfertile egg, can be used for cooking 
purposes with every confidence after examination by tester 
on the seventh day. The unfertile eggs are frequently re- 
moved after the fertilized eggs have hatched (on the twenty- 
first day); they are boiled hard and fed to the chicks. 

Having secured the non-fertilized new-laid eggs, care 
should be taken to preserve the flavor intact. The shells of 
the eggs are porous, and contaminating surroundings will 
doubtless affect the egg. The unfertilized egg may be kept 
in a cellar, with pure atmosphere, for many weeks and yet 
retain its flavor. In course of time it may shrink and par- 
tially dry up from evaporation, but there is no germ to start 
on its mission of bringing about change as soon as the con- 
ditions are favorable, or partly so. 

Mr. C. A. Cyphers, the author of "Incubation and Its 
Natural Laws," admitted to be one of the best works on the 
subject ever published, in a letter to the writer, says: "An 
unfertilized egg will keep longer than the other, and an egg 
from a hen fed on corn will keep its flavor better. The eggs 
should be kept in a sweet atmosphere. 



It must be borne in mind that it is the flavor of the egg 
that is all important to keep intact. And on this point a 
farmer in the neighborhood of New York City who sends 
thousands of eggs per week to that city, writes to the Rural 
New Yorker, "that if a brooding hen is allowed to sit on a 
new-laid fertilized egg for twelve hours the flavor of that 
egg is ruined." The same authority, who uses a large num- 
ber of incubators, says that he tests his incubator eggs on 
the fifth day, and all the clear or unfertile eggs he removes, 
marks them as such, and ships them to New York City, 
where they are sold for cooking or baking purposes. 

In our poultry department eggs have been tested on the 
sixth and seventh days and the unfertile eggs have frequent- 
ly been boiled bard wherewith to feed the chicks. On some 
occasions, at the end of the hatching period of twenty-one 
days, the clear or unfertile eggs have been removed from 
the nest and boiled hard to mix up with chicken food. All 
pouitrymen know that it is impossible to boil a rotten egg 
hard. 

It must not be inferred from the foregoing that unfertil- 
ized eggs should be kept a long time before being taken to 
market. Eggs, as advised in a previous page, should be sold 
as soon after being laid as possible. There are cases where 
the farmer is some distance from the purchaser, or can not 
come to market as frequently as one nearer to the city. In 
such a case, the eggs for sale may have to be kept for some 
time- and it is all the more important that they should be 
unfertilized and kept in a cool, sweet atmosphere. 

In the opinion of the writer it is only a matter of time 
and education when eggs for sale in summer will have to be 
guaranteed as unfertilized by the seller before a purchase 
will be made. Indeed the subject is already receiving prac- 
tical attention. A prospective question likely to be asked, in 
connection with Us discussion, may as well be answered, 
viz: If we are to allow no male bird with the laying stock 
how are we to breed our chickens? Easy enough, by picking 
out in early spring time, or better still, if circumstances will 
permit, by keeping apart all winter and not stimulating them 
to lay — nine or eleven of your best layers and best shaped 
birds. Mate them with an unrelated, healthy, well-shaped 
two-year-old cock if the birds are pullets or yearling hens, 
and a cockerel if they are two years old. When eggs enough 
have been saved to hatch out what chickens you wish, close 
up, kill or dispose of the male bird, and after keeping the 
hens he has been mated with inclosed for a week longer, let 
them run with the other laying hens, with which there is, 
of course, no male. And having saved eggs for hatching 
from birds selected for good qualities, superior progeny are 
likely to follow. The chickens from eggs saved from such 
mating will certainly be better, in every way, than those 
bred in the usual hap-hazard manner. As to keeping the 
male bird with the laying stock, the following is again 
quotfid from Experimental Farm Poultry Department report 
of 1899, viz.: "The cock bird is a nuisance in the pen of lay- 
ers. He not only monopolizes most of the food, but teaches 
the hens to break pggs and so learn to eat them. Besides, 
the stimulating diet is too fattening for him and will ruin 
him as a breeder. 

Conclusions Prove it a Profitable Business. 

In noting, in the foregoing, the features of the different 
markets, the demand and supply peculiar to them and the 
requirements of the various seasons, the following conclu- 
sions may be arrived at, viz: 

1. That our home winter market offers the inducement 
of high prices for new laid eggs. 

2. That notwithstanding greater production in this dis- 
trict, prices were never better than they were last winter. 

3. That there is no reason why new-laid eggs should 



EGGS AXD EGG FARMS. 



39 



not be produced, in winter, in such quantity as to take the 
place (in a very great measure) of packed, or preserved eggs. 

4. That with the modern and cheaper rations iE vogue, 
winter prices could be much lower than they are and yet af- 
ford a profitable margin. 

5. That eggs in the summer months that can be relied 



on as being new-laid and of good flavor, will bring better 
prices than the ordinary article. 

6. That so many summer eggs are bad, or ill-flavored, 
because (a) they are not unfertilized; (b) not collected im- 
mediately after being laid; (c) not brought to market soon 
after being laid. 



RELIABLE LETTERS ON EGG PRODUCTION. 



Interesting Communications on the Subject of Eggs for Profit and How to Get Them. 

Record Keeping; Feeding; Fertility; Winter Eggs; Utilizing Waste 

Products; Yarded Stock; Profit in Eggs. 



Reprinted from the Reliable Poultry Journal. 



["Help one Another" is one of the favorite mottos of poultrymen. This is evidenced by the interesting and valuable commimf- 
cations we receive from day to day relating to some detail of the poultry business that has been observed by the writers, and which 
they are anxious to impart for the benefit of their fellow breeders. The following are a few of the letters we have received bearing, 
upon egg-production.— Editor.] 



PROFIT IN EGGS. 



Poultry Raising, which Shows a Profit of Over 100 Per 
Cent After Paying for the Stock. 



Bv H. C, ROTH 



ENCLOSE you herewith a statement of the prac- 
tical results obtained from a small flock of fowls 
during 1900. My father keeps the fowls and is a 
very careful reader of your valuable paper, for 
which I subscribe. I enjoy reading your paper 
■ and think it very valuable, especially to the 
fanciers, but give us reports (reliable) of results and how 
th?y are obtained of poultry plants, medium sized, run for 
the dollars and cents to be made in the business. 

What do you think are the prospects of making a fair 
living out of a plant of say seven hundred hens operared on 
a farm of about twenty acres in the vicinity of New York 
City; thoroughbreds of say two varieties to be kept for gen- 
eral purpose? 

I send you a statement of the receipts from an average 
of twenty-four hens from the 1st of January till the 31st of 
October last year. 

Total eggs collected, 3,381, or nearly an average of 141 
for each hen. 

Total Accounts. 

Eggs $41.00 

Cockerels sold and used 21.00 

On hand, ?,0 pullets $15.00 

On hand, 12 chickens 3.00 

On hand, 19 old hens. 25c 4.75 

On hand, 1 cock 1.50 24.25 

$86.25 

Cost of hens $ 4.50 

Cost of cock 1.50 

Eggs hatched 2.00 

Feed 23.20 

Feed for chickens 10.00 41.20 

Profit $45.05 

The above hens were fed a variety of grain three times 
a day in summer and twice in winter, with a hot mash rf 



bran and corn meal in the morning in winter only. The 
chickens were fed principally wheat. 

I have fairly good hen houses in compartments and do 
not keep more than thirty birds in any place. I feed in the 
straw all grains. I commence feeding just about sunrise 
and the evening meal an hour before dark. I feed some 
ground bones and meat when I can get them. I always keep' 
plenty of gravel in their boxes and I am now feeding oyster 
shells. About half my hens were mongrel Barred Plymoutb 
Rocks and some other breeds. I find ihe better the bird the- 
more eggs I get. H. C. ROTHWELL. 



PROFITAPLE WINTER EGGS. 



In Spite of High Prices for Food, Well-Cared for Chicfcens 
Are Profitable in Winter. 



^1^ OES it pay to keep chickens in the winter time when 
|@j the food costs as much as it has this winter? My 
■'— ^ experience with my Buff Rocks has answered this 
question satisfactorily to me, at least. I have kept a record 
since December 1st. I paid for food, $5.50 and still have 
enough of it left to last through half of February. I have 
ted seventeen cockerels, seven hens and eighteen pullets, 
and so far have gathered twenty-seven dozen eggs, which, 
at the lowest figure, are worth 25 cents a dozen, or $6.75, 
which leaves a balance in favor of the chickens of $1.25, 
while I still have the cockerels, which I can sell at a good 
price. I expect to be able to make a much better showing 
during February, as the majority of the pullets are young. 

I do not get a chance to attend to them myself, except 
on Sunday, and I think they could be made to do even better. 
Many persons have asked what I feed my chickens to make 
them lay so well. They get wheat, corn and bran, besides 
plenty of oyster shells and grit. I hope this may influence 
others to try to keep laying hens during another winter. 
SAMUEL LOWRY. 



40 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



FEEDING FOR FERTILE EGGS. 



The Value of Green Food and Exercise for the Breeders. 



JN READING my poultry journals I find many complaints 
of poor hatches and chicks dying in the shell. I had 
the same trouble with my Orpingtons early in the sea- 
son. I was feeding them the same ration and the same 
amount as the Leghorns, and they got too fat. So I cut 
the grain down to loss than half of a small handful of wheat 
a day and gave the fowls a free run on alfalfa. The results 
were grand. Almost every egg hatched and the chicks are 
strong. We do not get a weak nor a crippled chick out of 
the incubator. 

I am still hatching. Had one machine come off this 
week with the grandest hatch of fine, strong fellows, and I 
will hatch two more machines yet. and shall keep tab on 
them to see if they do weaken as the season advances. I 
never saw such fine chicks as I am hatching now. I think 
the alfalfa is a grand food for both old and young chicks. 
It is just no trouble to raise them on an alfalfa run. 

W. H. BUSHELL. 



FERTILE EGGS FROM YOUNG STOCK. 



Something About Fertility of Eggs from Young Stock — Yarded Hens 
as Egg Producers. 



OT all the theories generally accepted as true turn out 
to be so under the test of actual experiment. Nearly 
all the authorities will agree that pullets mated with 
a cockerel will not be productive of good fertile eggs as 
early in the season as December, yet an instance came under 
my notice a few days ago, where such a mating proved 
exceptionally productive of fertile eggs. A gentleman 
of my acqaintaince purchased a new incubator, and 
more to test the machine than for any other reason, he put 
in it thirty-nine eggs from a pen of Buff Leghorn pullets 
mated with a cockerel. This was on December 22, and from 
the thirty-nine eggs, thirty-three good, strong chicks were 
hatched on January 12. At the same time, this gentleman 
took thirteen eggs laid by a pen of Buff Leghorn hens mated 
with a cockerel and placed them under a hen. The hen was 
placed in the same room in which the incubator stood and 
from her thirteen eggs she hatched ten chicks. In both in- 
stances the per cent of chicks hatched was remarkably high, 
but there is nothing in the result attained to show that the 
eggs from the pen of pullets were not just as valuable to 
the breeder as those from the pen of hens. 

My own experience has been similar. Last spring I 
made a single mating of one high-scoring pullet and an old 
cock bird. The pullet at first laid rather small eggs, in fact 
the first sitting was made up of eggs much smaller than 
suited me, but out of the thirteen I got a hatch of eleven 
chicks. The chicks were somewhat undersized when they 
were hatched, but every one of the eleven was raised to 
maturity and in point of size at four months of age they 
were as large as any of the season's hatch were at the same 
age. 

Another belief that is founded more on hearsay than 
fact is that regarding the so-called advantage hens with an 
unrestricted run have over those confined in yards. Yarded 
hens properly cared for will yield better results as egg pro- 
ducers than hens which are allowed, or, as is sometimes the 
case, are forced, to roam over the greater part of a fifty- 



acre farm to secure a living. The only natural advantage 
which a big run extends to hens is tgp opportunity it gives 
them of securing plenty of animal food, green food and grit. 
All these necessary elements may be furnished yarded hens, 
and then they will be equally if not more productive than 
those which are allowed an unlimited run. The man who is 
forced to confine his breeding operations to a village lot is 
prone to envy the farmer whose hens may use the whole 
farm for a runway if they feel so inclined. His envy, how- 
ever, is without reason, for the chances are that his yarded 
hens are doing better for him than are those of half the 
farmers. HENRY L. ALLEN. 



HOW TO GET WINTER EGGS. 

Selection of Winter Layers as Breeders Has Much to Do With It. 



^^ URING this winter of high priced food and consequent 
Tp>j scarcity of eggs, poultry folks have wondered how to 
-Ls^ get more eggs. I had not thought much about it 
until several persons began to ask me how it was that we 
were getting so many. 

For a number of years I have been raising most of my 
fowls from winter layers and I think this has a great deal 
to do with it. I particularly save eggs and set them from 
hens that lay during below zero weather. Of course, the 
eggs have to be gathered often. I remember three years ago 
I saved three eggs from a pen of five Partridge Cochins, 
three hens and two pullets, when the temperature that day 
was 24% below zero and the weather had been very cold for 
the previous week. The egg laid by one of these hens pro- 
duced a pullet that laid when she was four months and 
twenty-nine days old, which is extremely young for a Part- 
ridge Cochin to lay. 

The only departure in feeding that I have made this win- 
ter is that I feed a little more wheat, and cooked turnips 
three times a week. About three times a week I feed lard 
cracklings through a bone mill; and I still make a prac- 
tice of giving a warm mash in the morning. 

O. E. SKINNER. 



GRAIN AND EGG YIELD. 



Experiments That Seem to Prove That the Amount of Grain Fed 
Affects the Egg Yield. 



fHAVE had some little experience with feeding fowls and 
have come to the conclusion that with hens of the 
American and Mediterranean classes the more grain 
you feed the more eggs. Of course, they may be forced so 
that they will become broody, but they are easily broken 
and will soon commence laying again. 

.Asiatics seem to lay only when the conditions are favor- 
abln and the law is on their side. I own at the present writ- 
ing, a Buff Cochin hen nearly two years of age that has 
never laid an egg, and at another time I owned a Partridge 
Cochin female that reached the age of eighteen months with- 
out laying. Perhaps they were too fat. My first experience 
in heavy feeding was in the spring of '96, with a pen 
of White Minorcas, four hens and a cock. They 
had about a quarter of an acre of grass run and I was feed- 
ing them wheat screenings, but as they seemed to be in good 
condition and were not laying as well as I thought they 
ought, I decided that they were fat and stopped their grain 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



ration, with the result that they nearly stopped laying. 
Then I began to give them about double the amount of 
grain that I had previously and they laid nearly double the 
eggs they had at any previous time. They seemed to lay 
in proportion to the amount of grain they received. 

My next experience was with a flock of Barred Plymouth 
Rocks, fifty-nine hens and pullets. They were on unlimited 
range and were fed night and morning all the whole grain 
they would eat. During the month of April, for fourteen 
consecutive days, we gathered exactly fifty eggs per day. 
One hen was sick, two were sitting and one had chicks. As 
we needed hens to sit as fast as they became broody, I 
cannot tell how well they did after that. 

Once again in the spring of 1900 I had two small grass 
runs thirty feet square, in one of which I placed four Buff 
Leghorn hens and a cock, and in the other five Brown Leg- 
horn pullets and a cockerel. They were fed twice a day, 
all the corn they would eat, and under the partition fence 
was a trough which we kept filled with sour milk. During 
the months of April and May they laid from seven to nine 
eggs each day. I cannot tell what they did after that, be- 
cause they were turned out with the flock. It may be of 
interest to your readers to know that the Brown Leghorn 
pullets skipped a day in laying oftener than did the Buff 
Leghorn hens. I should like to hear from some one who 
has had more experience along this line. 

B. F. CONELY 



AN EGG RECORD, 



Which Shows What Can be Accomplished With a Small 
Flock With Care. 



By Dr. J. M.^RTIl 



-n HAVE noticed in your valuable Journal from time to 
K time egg records from various flocks. My flock is small, 
'■t consisting all told of thirteen, including one male and 
one very old hen not laying, so that the record is of eleven 
laying hens and pullets for one month, viz., from January 
loth to February 14th, Inclusive. My flock is composed of 
Rose Comb Rhode Island Reds and Single Comb Black 
Minorcas. During this time no artificial heat was used, yet 
the fowls' quarters were comfortable despite the fact that 
the coldest weather of the winter was experienced during 
this period. 

The smallest number of eggs gathered was four, which 
occurred twice during the month; the largest number gath- 
ered in one day was ten, occurring but once, but quite a 
number of days we gathered nine, while the average for the 
eleven fowls for the entire thirty-one days 
was seven per day, making a total for the 
month of 217 eggs. Six dozen of them were 
sold for 30c, or $1.80; twelve dozen of them 
were sold for 25c, or $3. The total receipts 
were ?4 SO Cost of food for the fiock during 
this month was $1.60, mak- 
ing the cost of food per 
bird 12 1-3 cents. Count off 
~~"~"^ for the male and old hen 
J^ts^^^ 24 2-3c, say 25c, and the 
total cost for the eleven 
was $1.35, which left a net 
profit of $3.45. So the eggs 
^ cost 7%c per dozen (frac- 

tions not counted), a profit 
of 31c per hen. The 
fresh bone fed cost me 
nothing. 




f^- 



>/( 




Some may ask how were they fed 
to obtain these results and what was 
the secret of succ^ess'r Well, the breeds 
may have had something to do with it 
perhaps. They were kept comtouabl 
and free from lice. They had = i 
before them at all 
times and additions 
were made three 
times each day; but 
with the exception of 
green bone, which 
was fed three times 
each week, and their 
mash once a day, 
composed of bran 
and corn meal, with 
a little beef meal 
and salt, they had to 
scratch and exercise 
for every mouthful 
they got. Herein, if cirti. h in hui t imt m i 

anywhere, in the 

writer's judgment was the secret of success. And besides, 
they were given warm water to drink and they were fur- 
nished a great variety of food. A laying hen is not easily 
overfed if only she is made to work for it. 

DR. J. MARTIN. 



TURNING WASTE PRODUCTS INTO EGGS. 



Scarcity of Grain and Money Forces Us to Utilize Every- 
thing That Has Food Value— In Time of Plenty 
We Should Do Likewise. 



By Mrs. S. B. Titterington. 

§NE beneficent result of the great drought of last sum- 
mer was that it compelled the poultry raiser to sup- 
plement the scarce and costly grain foods with other 
material. Never, perhaps, have the so-called waste products 
of farm and household been subjected to such close scrutiny 
in regard to their availability in this emergency. The 
knowledge thus obtained under trying conditions will be 
turned to profit in coming years. 

In the list of waste products we must place first and 
foremost green bono. While the use of this valuable adjunct 
to poultry rations has been known and urged for years, 
many were «low to give up the convenient and easy grain 
method. Necessity is a stern teacher, and under her stren- 
uous tuition many profitable lessons are learned. The bal- 
anced ration was a term that had little meaning to many 
busy people in other days; but it is safe to assert that the 
value of what the term stands for is better understood to- 
day than ever before. 

So much has been said regarding the value of cut green 
bone, that it will be impossible to advance any new ideas 
along this line. The assertion that green bone is an egg 
in a different form, or. in other words, that green bone 
contains the necessary constituents for eggs, feathers, fiesh 
and bone is supported by results. As a supplementary food 
for winter egg production, enhancing fertility, as well as the 
number of eggs, it is easily in the lead. Bone cutters are 
legion, and among the multitude offered, there surely should 
be satisfactory machines. But for a few hens, where no 
bone cutter is available, a chopping block and a hatchet 
make possihle this highly esteemed addition to the food. 

For growing chicks green bone is invaluable. It insures 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



quick growth and sturdy fowls. Of course an over supply 
will work disaster, but used with care and judgment it will 
do wonders. 

By green bone is meant a strictly fresh, untainted arti- 
cle. Boiled bones, or bones that have lain out in the sun 
and rain will not answer. Avoid also the bones of animals 
that have died from disease or starvation. 

Table scraps are especially good for poultry. They may 
form, along with potato or other vegetable peelings, the basis 
for a warm mash. By carefully saving everything of this 
description, so that enough of the waste material is cooked 
together to make the bulk of the mash, it will not require 
as much ground food for making it the required consistency. 
It should never be sloppy, as this is prejudicial to health. 

Green food can also be supplied from the store of cow 
beets or mangel wurzels, usually grown for the cattle. Cab- 
bage leaves are a highly esteemed relish. Almost anj'thing 
in the vegetable line may be utilized for the hens. Small 
potatoes, turnips, carrots are good things to have in these 
days of scarcity. The cow beets are not exactly waste mate- 
rial, yet the small and imperfect ones are just as acceptable 
in the poultry house as the larger ones which the cattle can 
dispose of more readily. 

No egg shells should ever be burned. They are too val- 
uable to dispose of in this way. Crush them and add to the 
m.ish. They will help to supply the lime for future eggs. 

The by-products of the dairy are too important to be 
overlooked. Skim milk, buttermilk, sour milk, are all nour- 
ishing and stimulate egg production. It will be money in 
pocket to make the pigs divide with the poultry. It will be 
more profitable in the end. 

Butchering time affords a grand feast from otherwise 
waste products for the fowls. Hog livers, kidneys, and the 
like, are soon disposed of if put where the poultry can pick 
at them. Beef heads seem to be particularly popular in 



chickendom. After every particle of flesh has been cleaned 
from the outside, split them open, if ^u have not a bone 
cutter. The inner part contains much which the busy for- 
agers can make good use of. If you are the happy possessor 
of a bone cutter, do not throw aside the leg bones because 
hard to cut. They are especially rich in the constituents 
for which we feed cut bone. 

Have coal ashes within reach. The fowls pick from 
them many tiny particles which aid digestion. Boxes of road 
dust are a necessity in winter. The hens delight in their 
dust bath when confined even more than in their summer 
liberty. By adding a little good lice powder to the dust, you 
may keep the fowls free from insect pests. 

Bran, shorts, linseed meal— the by-products of fiour and 
starch— may be bought at mill or factory at a price much 
below their real food value. They are, of course, far 
cheaper than the whole grain, and may be made to largely 
take its place by mixing in mashes, etc. 

Grit is surely a waste product, as it is good for nothing 
save as a grinder in the digestive process of our feathered 
pets. Many people pound up broken dishes, glass, and the 
like for grit. The writer cannot speak from personal exper- 
ience of its utility, but strong claims are made for its value. 
But grit, whether home-made or commercial, is an impera- 
tive necessity, if we would have our poultry in the best of 
condition — that health which insures profit as a return for 
our labor. 

Enough has been said regarding waste products to sug- 
gest the wisdom of looking out carefully for such as may 
prove adapted to the needs of the poultry. Doubtless there 
are others, which some investigating person will discover 
from time to time. In all our work, let us heed a scriptural 
Injunction: • "Gather up the fragments, that nothing be 
lost." 

MRS. S. B. TITTERINGTON. 



FEEDING FOR EGGS. 



Rations That Were Fed to Enforce Egg Production During a Competition Which Resulted in an 

Average of Two Hundred and Eighty-nine Eggs per Hen per Annum 

for the Winning' Pen. 



N the egg contest promoted by the National Stock- 
man and Farmer, Pennsylvania, 224 pens of 
fowls were entered. Weekly reports were re- 
quired from each contestant, and the value of 
the eggs laid was determined according to the 
current price of eggs in the Pittsburg market, 
this value being computed on the number of eggs as reported 
from week to week. The six highest winners and the num- 
ber and value of eggs were reported in the Stockman and 
Farmer as follows: 

First— Pen 112. W. S. Stevens, Ohio, eight White Ply- 
mouth Rock pullets, an average of 289 eggs each, or a value 
of $5.02 per hen. 

Second— Pen 189, William G. Dodson, Ohio, eight cross- 
bred Leghorn pullets, an average of 283 eggs each, or a 
value of $1.82 per hen. 



Third— Pen 115, J. G. Redkey, Ohio, eight White Ply- 
mouth Rock pullets, an average of 280 eggs each, or a value 
of $4.00 per hen. 

Fourth— Pen 75, L. E. Bradbury, Ohio, eight Single Comb 
Brown Leghorn pullets, an average of 277 eggs each, or a 
value of $4.C4 per hen. 

Fifth — Pen 88, Z. N. Allen, Pennsylvania, twenty-four 
Single Comb Brown Leghorns, an average of 277 eggs each, 
or a value of $4.89 per hen. 

Sixth— Pen 154. Z. N. Allen, Pennsylvania, twelve Barred 
Plymouth Rocks, an average of 262 eggs each, or a value of 
$4.24 per hen. 

Not being satisfied with a mere knowledge that a stated 
number of fowls laid a stated number of eggs, the Reliable 
Poultry Journal got down to hard pan by securing from the 
winners the actual facts. They were obtained for your- 



EGGS AND EGG FAR.MS, 



43 



given in the words of tlie 



E"ggs 



benefit. Read them. They 
contestants. 

An Average of Two Hundred and Eighty 
Per Hen. 

"You ask how I managed and cared for my eight White 
Plymouth Roclc hens during ihe recent egg contest as con- 
ducted by the National Stockman. I will be pleased to tell 
you. This pen consisted of eight White Plymouth Rock 
hens and one rooster. These eight hens laid 2.312 eggs in 
365 days, or an average of 289 per hen for the year. Esti- 
mated by the Pittsburg (Pa.) market, week by week, each 
hen laid during the year $5.02 worth of eggs. They were 
kept in a house 12x20 feet long, divided into two parts, each 
10x12, one part being used for a scratching shed and the 
other part containing the nests and roosts. The building is 
seven feet high and is a frame, weatherboarded with pine 



"They have free access to oyster shells and grit. I give 
them twice a week fresh granulated bone. Their food con- 
sists of a warm breakfast, equal parts of bran, white mid- 
dlings and chopped corn and oats, and into this I put for 
them fine beef loaf. At noon I feed wheat, which is thrown 
into the scratching shed. This gives them exercise in 
obtaining their noon meal. In the evening they are fed 
whole corn. During the time from the first of April until 
the first of November, I fed the same, with this change: In 
the morning their mash is mixed with cold water; in the 
evening wheat takes the place of corn. Cleanliness is a 
very important matter in regard to the maintenance of 
health for your fowls. I clean the house twice a week dur- 
ing the winter and ia the summer every other day. I have 
been breeding Plymouth Rocks now for five years, and have 
not as yet had any disease, and I attribute it to cleanliness 
and proper care." W. S. STEVENS. 





1 




■ Im 


1 


I^^Bii'^vli^^^^^^^^^^^^H 










^^^^^^^^^HE^ 


fl 






""^ 




1 



of Brooding Ho 



siding and ceiled with matched pine flooring, which makes 
the house very warm. You will notice this pen had plenty 
of room. The floor consists of mother earth and is covered 
about four inches deep, in the fall, with road dust and sand. 
Ths building runs east and west, facing the south. 

■'In the south of the building are two windows, which 
extend from the floor to the height of the building, thus 
admitting plenty of sunshine and light, so necessary to the 
comfort and happiness of the fowls. The perches are about 
three feet from the floor, and under them the dropping 
boards. A house of this kind in which fowls are housed 
during the winter months, with the right kind of food and 
the proper care, will insure the poultryman eggs all winter. 
My hens were not out during last December and January, 
and they were as healthy, happy and contented as if they 
were roaming the fields during the happy summer months. 
They were all aglee with song and contentment and shelled 
out eggs every day, even during the coldest days of last 
winter. 



Winner of tlie Second Prize. 

Mr. William G. Dodson, who won the second prize, 
wrote as follows: 

"My pen of eight pullets that I had in the National 
Stockman and Farmer contest laid an average of 283 eggs 
each in one year. The pullets were from a Rose Comb Brown 
Leghorn cock crossed by White Leghorn hens. The pullets I 
had in the contest were the result of that cross. The house 
I kept them in was built of lapsiding and lined with Nepon- 
set paper and roofed with the same. Not a pin crack was 
left for drafts to get in. I have a good-sized yard fenced 
in with wire netting. Each morning these pullets had a hot 
feed of chop, mixed with the water that the fresh bones and 
beef scraps were boiled in. After that some wheat and oats 
were thrown in the straw for them to scratch for. At noon 
they had ground bone and meat scraps and stale bread. At 
night they had in summer wheat and barley, and in winter 
corn and buckwheat, and at all times they had before them 



44 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



fresh water, and each day fresh milk. Twice a week I gave 
them some buttermilk. They also had at all times a good 
supply of broken dishes, seashells and limestone, broken in 
small pieces, and once a week they had a small quantity of 
ground ginger and black antimony. 

"The house was cleaned once a week and the floor 
sprinkled with air-slacked lime, and the inside of the house 
dosed with coal oil. The dust box was four feet square and 
filled with sifted coal ashes and road dust mixed. Not one 
of them was sick or "off its feed" one hour in the whole 
year, and they are still laying and look as fresh as any of 
my chicks. They are from my best layers singled out for 
several years. I breed from none but the best. I have been 
experimenting for some time in crossing different chicks. I 
could just as well have entered a pen of full-bloods as cross- 
breeds, but so many laughed at cross-breeds I thought I 
would give them a trial." WILLIAM G. DODSON. 



"These houses are frost-proof, having withstood a tem- 
perature of twenty-one degrees below ^ro. This, I think, is 
one of the great secrets of winter egg production, as my 
twelve years' experience as a breeder of thoroughbred poul- 
try have taught me that you cannot expect to get sggs in 
winter with all the feeding and care you may be able to 
give unless you have comfortable houses for them. 

"There is also a great difference in the laying qualities of 
birds of the same breed, some strains laying almost double 
the number of eggs of others of the same breed. I have been 
mating some of my pens with that object in view, viz.; eggs, 
and I have been in a measure successful, as my record in 
the late contest shows. I have been giving this my atten- 
tion for the past eight years, and by careful selection have 
increased the average per hen from 212 eggs nine years ago 
to 2S0 in 1S94. In my pens of White Plymouth Rocks and 
in the Barred Rocks I have brought them up from 205 to 264 




House Showing Hover Removed from Pipes and Used as Cool Brooders. For Chicks Four to Eight Weeks Old. 



An Interesting Communication. 

Mr. J. G. Redkey, won the third prize with eight White 
Plymouth Rock pullets that averaged 2S0 eggs each (or the 
year. He wrote as follows: 

"The varieties I breed are thoroughbred White and 
Barred Plymouth Rocks. I feed warm food in the morning, 
composed of cooked meat two parts and twenty parts of 
cracked wheat, with whole wheat and oats at noon scat- 
tered in litter. I feed oats, wheat and cora at night, with 
clover heads, cabbage, beets or turnips for green food, and 
cut bone, oyster shells and crushed limestone for grit. 

"My houses are built 14x20 feet, with a hall four feet 
wide in front and four six-light windows in front. There is 
a partition in the center, making two pens of 10x10 feet to 
each house. These houses are double boarded, with tarred 
paper between, and are roofed with Marietta roofing, double 
seamed. Each house is five feet high in the rear and eight 
feet in front. Each house has an earth floor filled in with 
from six to eight inches of pounded clay, with four inches of 
coal cinders on top, which makes a floor perfectly dry. 



in the same length of time. My yards are each thirty feet 
wide by 200 feet long, with one house for each two yards. 
Each pen contains fifteen hens and one cock, except the pens 
that were in the contest, which contained nine hens and one 
cock, and ten hens and one cock respectively. 

"I have never allowed my hens to rear chicks, as I hatch 
and rear all my fowls by artificial heat, and when I have a 
hen that becomes broody I remove her to a yard prepared 
for that purpose, containing no nests or secluded corners, 
and in a few days she can be returned to the pen, and she 
will soon be laying again, as though she had never offered to 
sit. It is my belief that fowls hatched in incubators and 
reared in brooders year after year will lose, to some extent, 
the habit of incubation, as my Rocks are now much lesa 
inclined to become broody than they were a few years ago, 
and I firmly believe that were it possible to introduce no 
other blood in the yearly matings, except from those that 
were artificially hatched and reared, the results would be 
much more marked. I may be wrong, but I have in one of 
my pens a Barred hen hatched May, 1893, that laid 297 eggi 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



45 



opinion by the 
that the native 
n followed for c€ 



to March 1, 1895, and has never offered to sit. This is ai 
exception, but only goes to prove what I believe is possible.' 
J. G. REDKEY. 

' [NOTE— Mr. Redkey is confirmed 
United States Consul to Egypt, which 
country (where artificial iocubation h 
abandoned the work of hatching.] 

No Excellence Without Labor. 

Mr. Z. N. Allen, who came off fifth and sixth best in the 
contest, receiving an average of 277 eggs each from a pen 
of twenty-four Single Comb Brown Leghorns, and an aver- 
age of 262 eggs each from a pen of twelve Barred Plymouth 
Rocks, favors us with the following valuable information: 

"Sixteen year? ago this spring I began an egg contest of 
my own. The preceding summer I had built a good hen 
house, so 1 determined to ascertain which of my breeds were 
the best egg producers. I penned six of each kind. Brown 



had to go into winter quarters and earn their living by 
scratching litter. They breakfasted on hot mash in winter 
and not very cold in summer. A short time after breakfast 
they went to scratching for life, some singing as they 
worked. For dinner they had green bone, meat and clover 
every alternate day, with very little exception. The noisiest 
time in the hen house was from daylight until noon. I 
thought sometimes they were trying to see which could 
make the most noise. I believe they had a more jolly time 
than I did. Along in the afternoon they turned their 
scratching into pecking cabbage. This sobered them down 
somewhat and gave them an appetite for supper, at least 
they got in a hurry and tried to see which would get the first 
bite. Some of them were so devoid of etiquette that they 
even flew up and lit on the side of the feed bucket. They 
appeared to relish very much boiled wheat and oats and 
some coarse bran, even if it was quite hot. Once a week the 
medicine man came around with his jar of cayenne pepper 




■Cool Brooder" House for Chicks Eight 



Weeks Old. 



Leghorns, Silver Hamburgs. Polish and Plymouth Rocks. 
This gave me some experience in feeding and confinement 
(which lasted four months) and this experience has stood 
me well in hand ever since. Pens No. 88 and 154 in The 
Stockman egg contest were pullets from good laying stock. 
Those in No. SS were hatched the first week in May. 1893; 
began laying about the middle of November. Those in Pen 
No. 154 were hatched the first of April, 1893. and began lay- 
ing the last of November. They were well fed and cared for 
from chicks until the contest ended. Their houses were 
made as warm as could be without artificial heat. Their 
apartments were kept clean and dry and were supplied with 
grit, ground bone and oyster shells. They had to scr.ntch in 
winter in litter, and in summer in sand. One side of their 
yards was spaded two feet wide. Then wheat was scattered 
and the sand was shoveled up against the side of the yard. 
To get the wheat they bad to scratch it back until it was 
about level. This was repeated once a day during the sum- 
mer unless it was too wet. When cold weather came they 



and made it a little hot for them in the mash. I believe the 
pullets in 88 and 151 laid eggs because they liked to do it. 
Pen 88 made a record of 6,654 eggs: Pen 154, 3,139 eggs. 
Thoroughbred stock, good wholesome food and plenty of it, 
good warm houses and good care will make a success of 
poultry." Z. N. ALLEN. 



POULTRY F OODS AN D FEEDING. 

Chickens are easily hatched — not so easily reared. A 
machine will do the hatching, but it needs something more 
than automaton to do the rearing. Hens are easily fed, 
but they are not so easily "fed to lay." From the time the 
chick leaves the shell to the moment she gives her last 
cackle, foods and feeding play important parts in the effort 
to make the greatest profit with the smallest expenditure. 
Whether the object be to perfect a fowl for exhibition or for 
market, or to secure best results in egg production, correct 
feeding is half the battle.— Robert H. Essex, in Reliable 
Poultrv .Journal. 




BREIEBHNG 




FOR EGGSo 



PEDIGREE BREEDING FOR EGG PRODUCTION. 



The Greatest Egg Producer is the Fowl That Has Been Bred for the Sole Purpose of 

Producing Eggs. 



By R. H. ESSEX, Associate Editor Reliable Poultry Journal. 




HE greatest egg producer is the bird that has 
been bred for the sole purpose of producing 
This bird will not necessarily be a 
Leghorn or a Minorca, although these breeds 
deservedly have the reputation of being the 
greatest egg producers living — that is, as a 
class. Without doubt there is a greater proportion of eggs 
laid by these two breeds than by any other two breeds that 
can be named; yet there are many individual birds of other 
breeds that may equal or even surpass them. If such should 
be the case, it will be found that these individual birds have 
been bred with one object in view, namely: egg production. 
Just as the fancier raises birds for exhibition, so may the 
farmer breed birds for laying purposes. Undoubtedly the 
proper course to pursue would be to choose your prospective 
layers from a class already noted for their laying proclivities, 
but do not imagine you have the best layers on earth simply 
because the breed selected has that reputation. Many 
Minorcas and many Leghorns hava proved unsatisfac- 
tory layers, while many a Brahma and many a Plymouth 
Rock has abundantly helped to fill the egg basket. 

As I have said, if you are commencing, select your birds 
from the classes bearing reputations as layers, but do not be 
discouraged because it is not convenient to do this. You may 
commence now with the stock in hand and note the best 
layers among your birds. Begin line breeding with as great 
regard to mating as you would if breeding for show pur- 
poses. Mark the pullet that is the first to lay: mark the 
most persistent layer; mark the hen that molls quickly and 
gets down to business before the hard winter sets in; mark 
also the best winter layers, and when you have done mark- 
ing, the spring will be here and you may commence mating. 
Better to breed from two or three well known layers than to 
take chances and make up a pen containing a dozen indiffer- 
ent ones. As the cock does not lay, you cannot judge whether 
he is likely to produce good layers, unless you know how 
he is bred, but you can choose the largest and most 
vigorous bird of the flock to mate with your selected 
females. After that it is easy. Never allow anybody to 



induce you to change the blood of your flock by the introduc- 
tion of a male bird of another strain, unless you are satis- 
fied he comes from a strain which equals your own as lay- 
ers. Remember the sire controls one-half the blood of the 
produce, and if you desire to introduce new blood or new 
stamina into your flock do so by means of the best laying 
female you can procure. Even then I would not use her 
sons as sires, but would dispose of them and mate her 
daughters back to the old male bird; the produce from this 
mating would have in their veins three-quarters of the blood 
of your own strain, with sufficient new blood to maintain 
the' vigor of the flock. Do not overlook the necessity far 
observation each year, so as to intelligently mate your birds 
the next season, continually choosing the best layers and 
limiting your breeding pen to these. The result will be that 
no matter what breed you start with you will eventually 
own layers far ahead of any that have been indiscriminately 
bred. The same advice applies to production of large eggs. 
I have had Minorcas which have laid large eggs, and Minor- 
cas which have laid small eggs; Brahmas, layers of large 
eggs, and Brahmas, layers of small. During recent years in 
breeding Buff Plymouth Rocks I have found that some hens 
lay small eggs, others large; and as I have carried out the 
system of pedigree breeding I have noticed the fact that lay- 
ers of large eggs transmit this attribute to their progeny, 
and layers of small eggs have produced birds which have 
also laid small eggs. It rests altogether with the particular 
strain of birds, and TiOt with the breed, as to which will give 
the best return, either in size or number of eggs. 

There is a material difference between 150 eggs a year, 
which is a fair average, and 289, which is I believe the rec- 
ord of a pen of fowls which had been entered for competi- 
tion in an egg-producing contest. It shows what can be done 
by pedigree breeding and judicious feeding, and constitutes 
the difference between profit and loss. 

If you keep many varieties you cannot give the neces- 
sary time to each one. Since I limited myself to breeding 
Buff Plymouth Rocks I have won more prizes and obtained 
more satisfaction than I did on all the others combined. 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



47 



Housing:, Feeding;, Hatching. 

There has been so much information given as to raising, 
housing and feeding, that anybody who reads should have no 
difficulty in these respects, if the directions are faithfully 
followed. Each breeder may have different methods, but 
analyzed they will be found to agree in the main. One feeds 
cut green bone every day, another every second day, but the 
amounts fed also differ, and the result is much the same. 
One feeds soft food for breakfast, another for dinner. Even 
this is regulated by the habits of the poultryman. The man 
who feeds early in the morning may with good results feed 
grahi as a breakfast while the one who feeds late will do 
better by giving the soft food first. The hens become habit- 
uated to certain methods, and will do fairly well under any. 
so long as they are not too radical. Still, the man who gets 
up early and feeds his fowls regularly will get the best 
returns, and he deserves them. 

Give little soft food, a small but regular supply of meat, 
or ground green bone, and a variety of grain, not forgetting 
the green food in winter, and the principal requirements for 
egg production have been performed. The next important 
reouisite is work. Feed the grain in litter, cover it well and 
make the hens work to find it. Do not be governed by false 
kindness, and throw down the food in heaps, but cover every 
grain. Be careful as to exciting the birds. Strange dogs, cats 
or even your next door neighbor going among the hens when 



in confinement will affect the layers detrimentally. A change 
of pens, removing a hen from one pen to another will cause 
a cessation of laying for a time. Change the position of 
your nests, and it has the same effect. Introduce a strange 
male bird, and you will notice the reduced number of eggs. 
Any change, every change should be guarded against. 

Give plenty of room and plenty of sunshine to the work- 
ers, and never reduce the scratching space to less than six 
or eight square feet per hen. Even this amount is small, 
and when confined to such a space it is necessary to limit 
the number of fowls in a pen to ten or a dozen. The most 
important requirement has not been mentioned, that is the 
water. Watch the hen come off the nest after laying and 
see her make for the water, and you will understand the 
necessity for pure v,'ater and lots of it. 

In the winter, if your house is dry, the fowls will keep 
themselves warm during the day if you feed little and often, 
and make them work. At night care must be exercised to 
see that they have a warm corner for a roosting place. 

Hatch your chicks as early as possible, but certainly not 
later than May, and if properly cared for you will have win- 
ter layers, and receive all the way from 25 to 50 cents a 
dozen for your eggs. If you allow the hen to use her own 
sweet will she will probably incubate in June, July and Aug- 
ust, and you will have lots of worry, lots of squabs, and any 
amount of expense feeding during winter chicks that bring 
you no return. R. H. ESSEX. 




that i-s Z lbs 



e puUets (sisters) that weigh 2 lbs. 8 oz 
■ighS^ to 10'^ lbs. each."— I. K. Felcj 



LIGHT 

BRAHMA 

EGGS. 



EGG YIELDING CAPACITIY OF HENS. 



The Use of the Trap Nest Shows Great Variation in the Egg Production of a Flock — Work of 

Two Hundred and Thirty-six Hens During a Year— Barred Rocks, White Wyandottes 

and Light Brahmas Undergoing Experiment. 



By PROFESSOR G. M. GOWELL, of the Maine Experiment Station. 



Vf2v'iB N recognition of the necessity for improvement of 
Hie egg producing capacities of hens, the work was 
taken up, and November 1, 1898, two hundred and 
sixty April and May hatched pullets were put into 
breeding pens and records kept of their individual produc- 
tions for a year. This was done with much certainty by use 
of the trap nest boxes described as follows in the station 
report for 1898: 

"We constructed a nest that proved so satisfactory that 
we placed fifty-two of them in the breeding house. * * * 
The boxes are placed four in a bank (Pig. I.) and slide in 
and out like drawers and can be carried away for cleaning 
if necessary. If desired they could be put on the floor or 
sheif by simply adding a cover to each box. * * * To 
remove a hen the nest is pulled part way out, an?, as it has 
no cover she is readily lifted up and the number of her leg 
band noted on the record sheet that hangs at hand. * * * 
"The nest box is very simple and inexpensive, easy to 
attend and certain in its action. It is a box-like structure 
without front end or cover. (Fig. II.) It is twenty-eight 
inches long, thirteen inches wide- and thirteen inches deep, 
inside measurements. A division board wth a circular open- 
ing seven and one-half inches in diameter is placed across 
the box twelve inches from the back end and fifteen inches 
from the front end. The back section is the nest proper. 
Instead of a close door at the entrance, a light frame of inch 
by inch-and a half stuff is covered with wire netting of one- 
inch mesh. The door is ten and one-half inches wide and 
ten inches high, and does not fill the entire entrance, a space 
of two and one-half inches being left at the bottom and one 
and one-half inches at the top, with a good margin at each 
side to avoid friction. If it is filled the entire space it would 
be clumsy in action. It is hinged at the top and opens up 
into the box. The hinges are placed on the front of the door 
rather than at the center or back, the better to secure com- 
plete closing action. 

"The trip consists of one piece of stiit wire about three- 
sixteenths of an inch in diameter and eighteen and one-half 
inches long, bent as shown in the drawing. (Fig. Ill:) A 
piece of board six inches wide and just long enough to reach 
across the box inside is nailed flatwise in front of the parti- 
tion and one inch below the top of the box. a space of one- 
quarter of an inch being left between the edge of the board 
and the partition. The purpose of this board is only to sup- 
port the trip wire in place. The six-inch section of the trip 
wire is placed across the board and the long part of the wire 
slipped through the quarter-inch slot and passed down close 
to and in front of the center of the seven and one-half inch 
circular opening. Small wire staples are driven nearly down 
over the six-inch saction of the trip wire into the board, so 
as to hold it in place and yet let it roll sideways easily. 
When the door is sec the half-inch section of the wire; 
marked A comes under a hard wood peg, or a tack with a 
large round head which is driven into the lower edge of the 
door frame. 



"The hen passes in through the circular opening and in 
doiiig so presses the wire to one side and the trip slips from 
its connection with the door. The door promptly swings 
down and fastens itself in place by its lower edge, striking 
tho light end of a wotden latch or lever, pressing it down 
and slipping over it, the lever immediately coming l)eck into 
place and locking the d^or. The latch is five inches long, 
one inch wide and a half-inch thick aEd is fastened loosely 
one inch from its center to the side of the box, so that the 
outer end is just inside of the door when it is closed. The 
latch acts quickly enough to catch the door before it re- 
bounds. * * * Strips of old rubber belting were nailed 
at the outside entrances for the door to strike against. 

"The double box with nest in the rear end is necessary, 
as when a bird ha.<; laid and desires to leave the nest she 
steps to the front and remains there until released. With 
one section only she would be very likely to crush her egg 
by standing upon it." 

Pure-bred birds from three breeds were used, viz., Bar- 
red Plymouth Rocks, White Wyandottes and the Eaton 
strain of Light Brahmas. As the room was needed for other 
birds, on October 10th some of the hens '.hat had not had suf- 
ficient time remaining in which to reach a yield of one hun- 
dred and sixty eggs in the year since commencing to lay, 
and that had produced one hundred eggs within the year, 
were taken out of the test, consequently the average yields 
of all the hens for the full year cannot be given. The pur- 
pose was to save those with yearly yields of one hundred 
and sixty eggs and over and those with yields of one hundred 
or less, so as to see what variations there were in the indi- 
viduals comprised in the flocks. 

Of the two hundred and sixty hens put into the test, five 
died during the year and nineteen were stolen. Of the two 
hundred and thirty-six hens remaining, thirty-nine each 
laid one hundred and sixty or more eggs, and thirty-five laid 
less than one hundred each. 

Twenty-tour of the one hundred and twenty-sis Ply- 
mouth Rocks laid one hundred and sixty &r more eggs each, 
and twenty-two laid less than one hundred each. Nine of 
the fifty-six White Wyandottes each laid more than one hun- 
dred and sixty eggs, and seven laid less than one hundred 
each. Six of the fifty-four Light Brahmas each laid more 
than one hundred and sixty eggs and six laid less than one 
hundred each. All birds were put into the test November 1, 
at which time some of the earliest ©nes had been laying for 
about two weeks. The year began November 1 for all birds 
thit laid during that msnth. oome of the later hatched ones 
did not begin to lay until January and February and they 
were given a full year after they began. A study of the 
monthly record sheets published in this connection shows 
the great differences in the capacities of hens, and marked 
variations in the regularity of thoir work, some beginning 
early and continuing laying heavily and regularly month 
after month, while others varied much, laying well one 
month and poorly or not at all the next. Accounting for 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS, 



49 



these vagaries was not. practicable as the birds in each breed 
were bred alike, and selected for their uniformity. 

All pens were of the same size and shape and contained 
the same number of birds. Their feeding and treatment was 
alike throughout. Whenever changes were made in the feed 
in one pen they were made in the others. That they were 
in good health is shown by the fact that but two were ailing, 
and were taken out early; two crop-bound, and one was in- 
jured by rough treatment by a cockerel. 

Many of the lightest layers gave evidence of much vital- 
ity and in many instances there were no marked indications 
in form or type by which we wer^ able to account for the 
small amount of work performed by them. Numbers 234, 
70 and 236 yielded respectively 36. 37 and 38 eggs in the 
year. They were of the egg type and gave no evidence of 
weakness or masculinity. Numbers 101, 286, 36, 47 and 14 
with their yields of 204, 206, 201, 200 and 208 eggs during the 
year were typical birds with every indication of capacity, 
but they were equalled in the minds of good judges by other 
birds that yielded a much less number of eggs. The size 
and uniformity of the eggs yielded are of a good deal of 
importance. It was very noticeable in these investigations 
that the eggs from hens that laid the greatest number aver- 
aged smaller in size than from those that did not produce 
so many. That this was not always the case was shown by 
the eggs from numbers 101 and 286, which were of good size 
and dark brown, while those from number 36 were small and 
laclung in color. For this defect number 36 will be exuliidid 
from the breeding pens. 

No. 14 is a good, large, strong White Wyandotte and 
because of the quality and quantity of her productions she 
is a phenomenal bird. When she went into the test November 
1, 1898, she bad been laying over two weeks. At the end of 
the year she had two hundred and eight good brown 
eggs to her credit, and she still kept on, laying 18 eggs in 
November, 22 in December, 21 in January, 18 in February, 
1.5 in March and 18 in April, just closed, giving her 112 in the 
first six months of her second year, and 320 in eighteen 
monihs, a lii;tle more than an egg in a day and three-fourths 
for the entire year and a halt after she commenced laying. 



.Jfc— 




IB 


^^^p"""^ 


i ' ' , '-' '^"^-i 


^H 


i^«i" ' ^ ' "H 




-Single 



Fio. I.— iiidividu 



When the eggs from the | 
hens that had been lay- 
ing long and freely 
were placed in the in- 
cubator, many of ihem 
were found low m fer 
tility, or entirely -.ter- 
ile, notwithstanding the 
hens had mated fieel^ 
with vigorous cocker 
els. The percentage of I 
infertility was much 
greater than in eggs 
from hens that had 
been laying moderate- | 
ly. The question arises 
whether a large percent- 
age of the chickens 
raised each year are not 
the produce of the tardy 
and moderate layers 

that are comparatively fresh, rather than of the more valuable 
and persistent layers that have been hard at work all win- 
ter? If this is so, breeding from eggs as they are ordinarily 
collected without a knowledge of the hens that produced 
them can but tend to furnish a large proportion of chickens 
frnra the poorest hens in the flocks. 

The cockerels as well as the pullets raised in this way 
furnish the breeding stock for the next year and in this 
manner the reproduction of the poorer rather than the bet- 
ter birds is fostered. This work— as undertaken— of breed- 
ing for more and better eggs will of necessity require much 
time, and several years will probably elapse before n^arked 
results may be looked for. 

If the average yearly egg yield can be increased to the 
extent of only a dozen per hen, by breeding, and the stock 
disseminated among the people the value of the work under- 
taken here will be very great. 

At this time cockerels are being raised from the hens 
that gave ever two hundred eggs last year, for our breeding 
next season. Among the two hundred additional hens un- 
dergoing test this year, it is hoped to find other large yielders 
and that next year we may have some pens where both the 
males and females will be from large producing dams. The 
three breeds taken lor this work are kept separate and pure. 
It is known that the laws of inheritance and transmission 
are as true with birds as with cattle, sheep and horses, and 
when we consider the wonderful advance in egg production 
that the hen has made since domestication, there is ample 
reason for assuming that a higher average production than 
the present can be secured by breeding only to birds that 
are themselves large producers. 

Over Forty That Laid More Than Two 
Hundred Eggs. 

During the four years in which we have been selecting 
breeding stock by use of the trap-nests, we have found over 
forty hens that have laid between 200 and 251 eggs per year. 
The most of them are now in our breeding pens and consti- 
tute, until other additions are made to them, the "founda- 
tion stock, upon which our breeding operations are based. 
All the males, as well as the females, which we breed from 
have been bred from them. The numbers of the foundation 
stock now secured make practicable the avoidance of in- 
breeding, and this is strictly guarded against, as it is doubt- 
ful if the inbred hen has sufficient constitution to enable 
her to stand the demands of heavy egg production. All the 
other breeding stock we are now carrying are tested hens, 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



± 




tl- 






^^ 




^' 


s 




^'' 





-Trip Wirt. 



that have laid over 180 eggs eacfl in • 
a year, pullets whose mothers laid 
over 200 eggs in one year and whose 
fathers' mothers laid over 200 eggs 
in a year; and pullets sired by cock- 
erels whose mothers and grand- 
mothers laid over 200 eggs in cne 

The size and color of the Ply- 
mouth Rock eggs are very fine. The 
eggs from the Wyandottes are of 
good shape and size, but as yet 
rather too light. It is early yet to know what the results of this 
work are to be. It is the breeding of egg producers together 
to secure egg producers. No matter how great the number 
of eggs produced, if they are not of good size, shape and 
color, the bird is rejected as a breeder. While we are not 
breeding for fancy points or show purposes, the birds are 
kept within the limits of the requirements of the breed. 

The purpose of this work should not be misunderstood. 
We are not trying to produce stock that shall average to 
yield -200 eggs per year. If by furnishing the male birds 
which we secure, to farmers and poultrymen of Maine, the 
average egg yields of the hens of the state shall be increased 
to the extent of one dozen eggs per bird, the value and im- 
portance of this work will be many times its cost. 

For twenty-one years I have been at work with the same 
family of Barred Plymouth Rocks, and by selecting typical 



eggs for incubating had succeeded in very much improving 
the shape, size and color of the eggs ^Ided. That was an 
easy matter, for I simply bred to producers of quality in 
order to secure quality, and I secured it. I endeavored to 
increase the egg yields by selecting birds of what 1 thought 
was the "egg type," and breeding them together, I had heard 
a great deal about the "egg type " and had gotten to think 
it was a hard and fast fact. After using the trap-nests for 
a few years, however, and finding in the same pens, where 
the hens were all from the same hatch, and fed and treated 
alike throughout their laying year, some birds that yielded 
from 220 to 251 eggs, and others that laid only from forty 
to sixty eggs during the same time, and not being keen 
enough of sight and touch, to discover differences of form 
and feature, sufficient to account for the great variations in 
yield, I began to lose faith in the "Beef and Dairy Form," 
as indicating the internal functions of hens, sufficiently to 
be longer accepted as guides in selecting stock from which 
to breed egg producers. 

It is a good way to the end of this road along which we 
are plodding, and the four years passed upon it are not 
sufficient to yield data with which to establish claims, or 
prove or disprove theories. 

Whether we succeed or fail in establishing greater egg 
yielding families of Barred Rocks and White Wyandottes, 
the poultry breeding public will be kept informed as the 
generations of birds succeed each other, as results vr.ry 
and data is accumulated. G. M. GOWELL. 



BLACK MINORCAS AS EGG PRODUCERS. 

For Annual Egg Production and Size of Eggs the Minorca is Unexcelled — Standard-breds, Win- 
ners and Layers— Pullets' Eggs That Weigh Two Pounds per Dozen. 



By J. H. DOANE. 




HIS article is based on the value of Black 
Minorcas as egg producers. It is generally 
considered poor policy to claim supremacy 
for any breed of poultry in a general sense, 
but when it comes to egg production it does 
not require any stretch of facts, or illusionary 
views, to assert that Black Minorcas are the Acme of Per- 
fection as egg producers. It is a fact undisputed by those 
who have given them a trial that Black Minorcas are not 
outclassed in number of eggs laid by any other breed or 
variety, while In size of the egg Black Minorcas are in a 
class by themselves. We have not had experience with all 
breeds by any means, but we have bred several of the lead- 
ing varieties and by every test the Black Minorcas have 
proved themselves the best layers at all seasons. Four years 
ago we decided to breed them exclusively. 

When one attempts to show that the size of the egg should 
affect the price it is invariably cited that eggs are sold by 
the dozen. This claim granted; yet the housekeeper chooses 
the big ones every time. Any other product of the farm — 
horses, cattle, cheese, butter or grain, has a market value 
which fluctuates with the quality. A high stepping cobby 
horse built with the curves and symmetrical points of equine 
beauty, or an extra good looking draft horse, to say nothing 
of superior track horses, will command prices far in advance 



of the market. This same applies all through the long list 
of farm products and there is no exception in the real value 
of eggs. To say that an egg is an egg is about as unmean- 
ing as the assertion that a hen is a hen. The cost of keeping 
a cow that produces forty pounds of milk per day is no more 
than that of keeping one that will produce but twenty 
pounds, and the cost of keeping a hen that will yield two 
hundred eggs in a year is no more than that of keeping one 
that will lay but half that number. The care in either case 
is equal, and the pleasure and profit is all on one side. 

Black Minorcas will produce as many eggs in a given 
time with proper care as their nearest competitors, the Leg- 
horns, while their eggs will outweigh the other breed by 
several ounces to the dozen. Again, Minorca eggs do not 
have to be sold at the same price as other eggs, for their 
large size will readily command a higher price. We have 
no trouble getting three to five cents per dozen above market 
price for all the eggs we can spare, and other Minorca breed- 
ers realize about the same additional profits. As well 
charge market price for small potatoes as for small under- 
sized eggs; and if Minorca breeders could have their way, 
eggs would be sold by weight instead of by the dozen. This 
would be but justice due the purchaser, and such a measure 
would be a step out of dark age customs. 

Although evidence is unnecessary the writer pi^gents on 



KGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



the first page of this book a cut, which is a half-tone from 
photo of one dozen eggs, every one of them laid by Blaclc 
Minorca pullets showing an exact net weight of thirty-two 
ounces — two pounds — for one dozen of pullet eggs. In evi- 
dence of the fact that standard-breds are the best layers I 
may say that six of the eggs were laid by the first prize pul- 
let at Madison Square Garden — the Crystal Palace show of 
America. Those six eggs were laid in six consecutive days — 
March 22d, 23d. 24th, 2.5th, 2fith and 27th. Four of the 
other six were laid by one of the two pullets in the second 
prize pen at the same show and the other two by an un- 
shown pullet of same breeding and quality. Can you produce 
pullets of any other breed that will equal that weight? Note 
the even size and pure white shells, smooth as you wish. 
T)iose three pullets and three more of the same breeding are 
mated with the first prize cock at the last New York show. Is 
that quality enough for you? 

The old saying, "Handsome is as handsome does," is 
illustrated in a clear, practical and valuable manner here; 
but if you want more evidence of the beautiful, have a look 
at the first prize pullet that laid six eggs with a combined 
weight of an even pound in six days as sketched by Artist 
Sewell. 

These pullets were hatched in May and June and com- 
menced to lay in November and December. The first prize 
pullet began to lay eighteen days before the New York show 
(which fact disproves the worn out theory that a laying pul- 
let loses her bloom), and laid during the exhibition. From 
March 1st to 30th, inclusive, she laid twenty-four eggs. We 
have three other pullets that have made even better records 
than this one, and it is not necessary to point out this par- 
ticular pullet except to demonstrate that to breed to the 
highest type of perfection does not detract from the practical 
value of the Black Minorcas as egg producers. 

We have bred Black Minorcas for fourteen years, and 
while our chief aim has been to breed near to the standard, 
wn have also worked to build up an excellent egg producing 
strain. As the chief object in the life of a Minorca is to 



keep the egg basket well filled, it would not be possible to 
get a better variety to work upon successfully. For years 
we worked at a disadvantage, and in the light of modern 
record keeping or pedigree breeding, we worked in the dark. 
It is safe to assert that no man can accomplish the best 
results in breeding either for standard requirements or in 
producing an excellent egg strain without the use of trap 
nests. We have our pens fully equipped with them and we 
are convinced without a possible doubt that perfection in 
pedigree must come through their use. There is one excep- 
tion and thatis separate matings of one male and one female, 
but that of course is not practicable, nor profitable, nor will 
It ever come into general use, while the trap nest is sure 
to come into general use, or some will surely learn that 
they are not up-to-date. The expense is slight and the profits 
derived are very evident. The record sheet shows that two 
pullets have not pai 1 their board, while one has laid but six 
eggs in five weeks. To be sure that does not read as nicely 
as the rest, hut facts are appreciated and records are helpful 
and if all were extra good layers the trap nest would have 
no value in determining the best. 

Black Minorcas are conceded to be one of the hardiest 
varieties we have among all the standard breeds. "A chick 
well hatched is half raised" will apply to them if to any 
breed. The chicks are quick growers; the cockerels are 
early crowers, and the pullets lay early and often. If any 
one has any doubts about Black Minorcas being the "Acme 
of Perfection," as winter layers, we invite you to give them 
a trial, for we arc certain you have never done so. The 
winters of northern New York are severe in the extreme, 
still we have invariably had a good supply of fresh eggs, 
and the keynote to it all is exercise. 

Keep the hens busy hunting for grains in deep litter and 
an increased egg yield will be the result. Eggs will hatch 
better, hens will thrive better and grow larger. It is the 
plan of nature, as it promotes vigor. To give your birds 
proper attention requires a love for the business and con- 
tinual observation of details of the business. 

.1. H. DOANE. 




; Garden Ne 



A NEW TRAP NEST. 



A Home-made Trap Nest Which is Said to Do Satisfactory Work; a Novice Can Make It, and 
Its Construction will Occupy Time Well Spent. 



By CLARK & TROLL. 



.r^ 



• —[ IKE MOST breeders of the present day who 
have decided to use trap-nests in their 
breeding pens, we early in our experience 
with the fancy and market poultry busi- 
ness came to the conclusion that the only 
practical way to breed a strain of birds 
lip to the highest point of excellence, in the shortest possible 
time, either for show purposes, or heavy egg production, 
would be to ascertain with absolute certainty, the sire and 
dam of every bird we produced whether it be a prize winner, 
an exceptionally fine layer, or both. As our desire was to 
bull, 
devi 
fnrn 
ab:-! 



up a strain of heavy laying prize winners, we set about 
ing a nest box that would assist us in securing the in- 
ition we ncpded, and as it has to be positive (no if's 
■ it, and therefore no two hens getting on the same nest 




at one time) we studied the needs thoroughly, and finally 
succeeded in making the "Champion Trap Nest." As we 
like to pass a good thing around (and what has been a great 
benefit lo us we feel sure will likewise benefit others), we 
give R. P. J. readers the advantage of our experience with 
full instructions how to make this nest box. If all who may 
use this nest box shall be as successful as we have been we 
will be gratified indeed. After experiencing the great advan- 
tage we have gained by its use we would not now go back 
to the old hit or miss way of breeding. We would just as 
soon think of going back to the breeding methods of twenty- 
five years ago. 

As will be seen by the illustration herewith, we make 
three nests in one section. We need only one size, each nest 
being twelve inches square, inside measurement. To make 
one section this size, we use one-inch pine boards, twelve 
inches wide, for the bottom, ends, divisions and doors. Cut 
one piece thirty-eight inches long for the bottom, two pieces 
twelve by thirteen inches for the ends, and two pieces twelve 
inches square for the center divisions. Cut seven laths, 
each forty inches long, five of which are for the top, and two 
for the back, to hold the nesting material in. 

First nail each of the two ends onto the outside ends of 
th'i bottom. This makes it forty inches long. Then nail 
the five laths on top, and next the two on the back. Then 
put in the two center division boards, thereby forming three 
nests each twelve inches square. To make an alighting 
board, cut three pieces about fifteen inches long by one' by 
one and one-half inches. These have to be nailed on the 



under side of the bottom board, one at each end. and one in 
the center. Let each one project in front of the nest box 
about five or six inches, and nail a lath onto the ends of 
each. 

Now comes the more difficult part of the work, though 
I believe we could make a whole section in less time than it 
lakes to write this. Cut three pieces, each twelve inches 
square, for the doors, and from the center of each cut a cir- 
cular piece seven inches in diameter. Now you need some 
No. 14 wire to make Fig. 1. Cut two pieces each eleven 
inches long and with a pair of plyers bend the wire into 
shape, as shown in illustration, the long stretch in the cen- 
ter of this wire is eight inches, which leaves one and one- 
half inches on each end to bend into shape. With some 
three-quarter inch poultry netting staples fasten these wires 
on the door, one on each side of the opening at equal dis- 
tance apart at top and bottom, having the lower ends about 
on a level with, or a trifle below the lower edge of opening, 
which will allow the curtain to be raised above the trigger 
which holds it up. Next cut a piece of wire sixteen inches 
long and bend it in the shape shown by the long wire in 
Fig. 2; then cut a piece two inches long and bend one end 
to form a loop by which it will hang upon the center of this 
long wire. In the illustration it is shown caught up in posi- 
tion, but when released it simply hangs from the two-inch 
center bend of the long wire. 

Fasten these combined pieces to back of door with two 
staples for hinges, so that it will swing free and easy. See 
Fig 2. Drive a staple about three-fourths the way into the 
top of the circular cut, as shown in Fig. 2. It may also l>e 
seen on Fig. 3. This forms a rest for the trigger I the two- 
inch piece of wire) when it is placed in position to support 
the curtain. 

The hen on entering the nest pushes the sixteen-inch 
wire and the trigger, until the latter drops from its rest and 
releases the curtain, which then falls and covers the oiiening. 

To make the curtain cut a piece of muslin eight inches 
square, and tack it upon a piece of lath one by nine inches, 
which leaves one-half inch extending on each end, past the 
curtain. Slip the laths under the guard wires illustrated in 
Fig. 1, and also shown on the door of the center nest in Fig. 
3. and after tacking the curtain at the top, above the open- 
ing or doorway, drive a staple into each end of the lath im- 
mediately outside the guard 
wires, so as to keep them in 
place when the hen may try 
to get out of the nest. Be 
careful not lo drive I lie 
staples loo close to Hi'' 
guard wires, or thoy will 
cause friction. Procure 
hinges and hooks for the 
doors and the nests will be 
ready for use. Make two w 
the back of the nest box. Place two staples at proper dis- 
tance apart, in the wall of house, which forms the back of 
nests and hang the nests up to these; U< is then, QWt of 
the way. 




hooks and fasten them to 



KCaS AND ECxG FARMS. 



53 



After getting the nests in position, raise tlie curtain 
above the openings, slip the trigger through the staple, and 
let the curtain rest on it until a hen enters, when down it 
will come, leaving her a prisoner until released, and no other 
hen can possibly get in with her, nor can she get out until 
released. 

So much for making the nest. We trust it has been ex- 
plained clearly, so that all will understand how to make the 
separate parts, and place them together in their right posi- 
tion 

Now for the advantages to be gained by its use. If we 
weie to ask you if siandard-bred stock were as good as com- 
mon scrubs you would very likely, and with good reason, 
too. consider that we knew nothing about the poultry busi- 
ness. If we ask, is carefully bred, pedigreed stock, of any 
kind or variety, better than the carelessly bred hit or miss 
kind (especially in the matter of transmitting qualities to 
their progeny) your, answer would be, "Certainly it is." It 
is an undisputed fact that some hens will lay a far greater 
number of eggs in a year than others, also that some hens 
are much better pioducers of prize winners than others. To 
take advantage of these facts every down-to-date breeder 
should avail himself or herself of the opportunity to secure 
a trap-nest of some sort, one that will enable the breeder 
to know the good or bad qualities of every bird, especially 



of those in the breeding pen. We venture to say that the 
time is not far distant when every breeder of note, who 
wishes to be up with the times, will use a trap-nest, or resort 
to some other means by which they can know the breeding 
qurlities of each individual bird, which they may wish to 
breed from. If one has not the time to keep their nest boxes 
in use the year round, as it happened with us this season, 
they can be used during the time we are saving eggs for 
hatching, and after the hatching season is over the traps 
may be fastened up out of the way until another season 
comes around. On account of so much other work demand- 
ing our attention this summer we had to dispense with the 
use of our traps after finishing hatching, but used them all 
the time we were saving eggs, so that we now know the sire 
and dam of each chick raised and all the desirable qualities 
of each for several generations. 

To be a live, wide-awake American poultry breeder, one 
must be progressive, and to progress is to advance. Get out 
of the old ruts, and take advantage of every opportunity 
that is within one's reach. Just as the old style machinery 
in nearly every known vocation has gone out of use to be 
replaced with new and modern inventions, so it is with 
poultry breeding. The old way was very good in its time, 
but the modern methods will be adopted in future to produce 
"better poultry and more of it." CLARK & TROLL. 



THE EUREKA NEST BOX AND ITS USE. 

Complete Description by the Inventor of This Superior Device for Keeping Records of the Eggs 
Laid by Individual Members of a Flock; It Tells "Which" Hen Laid the "Egg"— 
Plan of Construction— Amount and Kinds of Materials Required- 
Specifications for Making. 



By A. J. SILBERSTEIN. 




SOON as I was sufficiently familiar with a 
fowl's wants (or thought 1 was) to succeed in 
obtaining almost enough eggs for the family 
table, it puzzled me to know why we did not 
e an egg per fowl per day. To account for the 
egg yield at that time, I imagined that six or eight of our 
birds were laying, and the balance of our flock of twelve or 
thirteen hens were not. "Now," I reasoned, "the trick is to 
become acquainted with the non-layers, dispose of them, and 
replace them with others that will lay." And so I proceeded 
with various devices— all in the nature of trap-nests— with 
the view to learning which hens were laying. 

Varying measures of success and failure attended these 
efforts. I tried nearly three dozen devices, the chief trouble 
that confronted me being in the number of eggs that were 
laid in the litter while the traps were occupied. I had either 
to make a trap for each bird, which to me was impractica- 
ble because of lack of room; to stay with the birds more 
than was possible, or else to devise some plan whereby the 
trap feature would be eliminated. The Eureka Nest Box 
was the ultimate result. 

After using this device in ray own pens with entire sat- 
isfaction for nearly five years. Major Roessle pereuaded me 
to market it by offering plans and permit for sale. I sold 
thousands of permits, and but for the great simplicity of the 
invention, through which 1 was prevented both from exhib- 



iting the Eureka, a.5 well as publishing illustrations of it In 
my advertising (either of which would mean to give away 
what I had to sell), thus satisfying the very natural desire 
of those who contemplated its purchase to know what they 
were buying, I do not doubt but I could have sold many 
thousands more. As a result the number of letters in my 
daily mail, asking for details, has so largely increased as to 
make it impossible (with the time at my disposal) to i-eply 
fully to all, hence I have decided to publish complete plans, 
with helpful illustrations. 

Detail of Compartments. 
As will be seen by reference to cut on this page, also 
Fig. 1, the Eureka consists of a series of compartments, the 
number of compartments being limited only by one's need 
or taste. What is known as a four-section box is given in 
the illustrations referred to, which is ample for a pen of 
twelve to fifteen Asiatics, ten to twelve of the American 
breeds, or eight^to ten of the Mediterraneans. All compart- 
ments are of uniform size, and the exact dimensions will 
depend on the breed one carries, as well as the size of his 
strain. Th« dimensions should be such as to give the fowl 
comfort while laying, at the same time filling the compart- 
ment; completely with her body, for when she is in a nest (a) 
or confining pen (b) her body must prevent the door (later 
described! from being opened by another hen. The com- 



54 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



partments should be square, never oblong, for when made 
oblong the fowl is apt to sit crossways, and so leave room 
for a second hen to enter. 

Approximately the dimensions (varying with the size of 
different strains), are from 9 to 12% inches square for Asi- 
atics, from 7 to IOV2 inches square for the American breeds, 
and from 51^ to 8 inches square for the Mediterraneans. It 
would require extremely large specimens of the different 
breedstocallfortheiargerdimensions given for each. Viewed 
from the side (see Fig. II.), the Eureka nept is in the sli.-iiio 







of a parallelogram. The angle at corners In Fig. 2 should 
not be over 100 degrees. When slanted more the hen's body 
does not keep the door closed when she is occupying any of 
the compartments, but the door usually lays on her back, 
allowing her to leave it at her pleasure. 

The doors are made of light weight material, such a-i 
shingles. Nothing thicker than one-half inch stuff shov:ld 
be used for this purpose. They are hinged to the tops at E 
and V: Fig. II., to open inward. They should be one lo 
two inches narrower (see space at door shown in Pig. 3) 
than the width of the nests, and when hinged in place 
should be squarely in the middle of the opening, leaving 
one-half to one Inch space on each side. They should be a 
little more than one-third as high as the boxes are. Thus 
Mediterraneans would call for a box 10 to 11 inches high, 
with doors 4 to 4% inches high; Americans, a 11 to 13 inch 
high box, 4% to 5% inch doors; Asiatics, 13 to 18 inch box, 
with 51/2 to T'i inch doors. 

Plan of Trap in Door. 

The cut in the bottom of doors should be one and one- 
half to two and one-half inches wide at its nar- 
rowest part (sei? opening in door, Pig. III.), two 
and three-fourths to three and one-half inches 
at its widest, and one-third as high as the door. 
The plan is to have it large enough for the 
fowl to easily insert her head and neck, but not 
so large that she can squeeze her body through. 
A fowl wanting to lay, sees a nest through the 
cut in the bottom of the door (see Pig. 3), in- 
serts her head, and involuntarily pushes the 
door up. As she slowly enters the nest, the 
door slides gently along her shoulders, down her 
back, and as she settles herself comfortably, 
closes silently behind her. As explained further 
on, these doors open inward only; also as 
hereafter explained, the light that reaches the nests filters 
in through the confining pens. Having laid, the hen moves 
to the light, leaving the nest for the confining pen; so by 
separating ihe layer from the egg, we remove the tempta- 



tion of egg eating; or if a fowl is already a victim to that 
habit, by being thus isolated each tinft she lays, we discover 
the culprit, and prevent the spreading of this vice. 

As stated the Eureka Nest Boxes are made 10 to 18 inches 
high, according to the breed, and to facilitate cleaning they 
have no bottoms. When it is desired to elevate the boxes 
from the floor, a shelf of needed width is built, and the 
Eureka placed on it. 

Directions for Making. 

To make a Eureka Nest Box, we first 
decide on how many sections our box is 
to have; then enter our pens while the birds 
aie laying, holding a foot rule in our hands, and 
\\ithout disturbing them gauge the necessary 
size of each compartment. Let us say the com- 
partments will be ten inches square, let us also 
suppose that we have decided on a four -section 
Eureka, and that we are going to build it fifteen 
inches high. We begin by .sawing out the boards 
for the ends and partitions. We shall need five 
of these boards — one more than we shall have 
sections. As before described, the front edge 
should slant at an angle of not over 100 degrees, 
at. shown in Fig. 2, and the rear edge must 
slant to parallel the front. Our boards must be 
20% inches long at the top and bottom — ten 
inches for nests, ten inches for confining pens, 
^■"- and one-half inch for divisions between the 

ne.9ts and the confining pens, as hereafter described. Seven- 
eighths inch stuff will be needed for the ends and partitionK. 
This done, we take a seven-eighths inch board, three 
inches wide, and cut off a piece forty-four and thret- 
eighths inches long, i. e., four times ten inches (for 
each section), plus five times seven-eighths inches (for 
ends and partitions), and nail it across the middle of the 
top edges of the partitions — see A, Fig. 2 — setting the latter 
ten inches apart (inside measurement.). The covers to nests 
and confining pens are hinged to this, through which the 
pggo are gathered and the hens released. When if is desired 
to gather the eggs from an alleyway, two one and one-half 
inch boards are used instead of one three-inch wide; one is 
nailed across the back ends of the top of the partitions; the 
other, with its rear edge ten and one-half inches from the 
front edge of the partitions. The cover to the confining 
pens is hinged to the former; the cover to the nests is 
hinged to the latter. 

Now we take two two-inch strips, seven-eighths inch 
stuff, 44% Inches loug, and nail one across the bottom of 





A 


f\ 


A 


A 


A 


3 


B 


3 


B 


3 



the partitions at C, Pig. 2, the other at opposite C, Fig. 2. 
Next we take a strip of one-half-inch stock three inches 
wide (or we can use two laths), 44% inches long, and nail 
it across the front of the partitions at E, Fig. 2. To this, we 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



55 




will hinge the front doors, which have been previously re- 
ferred to and which we will explain in detail later. 

Now we want a three-inch strip of one-half-inch stock, 
ten inches long (we can again use laths) for each nest, four 
strips in all. These we nail on the edge between the parti- 
tions, at middle of top — exactly in the middle — as shown at 
P, Fig. 2. We shall hinge the inside doors to these strips 
by and by. These 
strips, with doors 
a u d inside b a s e- 
boards next explain- 
ed, form the divi- 
sions between each 
nest and its confin- 
ing pen. 

Next we want a 
board of either one- 
half inch or seven- 
eighths inch stuff, a 
trifle over one-third 
as wide as the box 
is high, which, for 
the box we are 
building would ha six inches. We cut it forty-four 
a,nd three-eighths inches long, and nail it across the 
bottom of the front— at G, Fig. 2. This is the outside base- 
board, against which the front doors strike in closing, and 
so prevents them from being opened outward, as explained 
later on. We hollow out this baseboard at the center of 
each nest, to a depth of three-fourths of an inch, as shown 
in Fig. III. As we shall need baseboards for the inside 
doois, we find a board of the same width and thickness, and 
cut it into ten-inch lengths — the width of our sections — one 
for each section, four in all. Thesu we hollow out at cen- 
ters as described for the outside baseboards, and nail on 
edge between the partitions at the middle of bottom, taking 
care to slant them so as to be parallel with the outside edges 
of the partitions i,see H, Fig. 2). 

We cut eight dooi-s as in Fig. 3. They need to be two 
inches narrower than the width of one section — which 
makes our doors eight inches wide (i. e., the swinging 
board), and one-fourth of an inch higher than the width of 
baseboard, which makes our doors 6% inches high. As be- 
fore stated, these doors must be of light weight material, 
else the fowls will object to lifting their weight. We shall 
make the cut in the bottom of doors 2% inches high (see 
opening in door, Fig. III.), 3^4 inches wide at the bottom, 
narrowing to 2%, inches wide at the top. To hinge the doors 
in place, we lay the box on edge, front down, and first attach 
the outside doors, then those for the inside. We hinge each 
door squarely in the middle of each nest and confining pen, 
and so leave an inch between the edges of doors and, parti- 
tions, always observing to have the bottom edge lap at least 
one-quarter of au inch over the inside of baseboards, so that 
they cannot be opened outward. If the doors are cut higher 
than tiV* inches (in the box we are building) they will rest 
on the backs of fowls, enabling them to leave the nest after 
laying. We shall use pieces of leather for hinges, to insure 
the doors opening and closing easily. 

Now we take an eight-inch board. 44% inches long, sev- 
en-eighths-inch stuff, and hinge it to the back of the strip 
first described (A, Fig. 2), for a cover to the confining pens. 
If we are going to gather the eggs from an alleyway, we 
shall hinge this cover to the front of strip at back of con- 
fining pen; next a twelve-inch board of the same length and 
thickness is fastened to the front of strip A, Pig. 2, as a 
cover to the nest. If thinner material is here used, the 
fowls soon find that they can release themselves, and will 



do so. For Mediterranean breeds, it is best to saw the cover 
into lengths, and have individual covers for each nest and 
confining pen. For the American breeds we saw each cover 
in half, and for the Asiatics, we leave it whole. 

Our twelve-inch cover projects three and one-half inches 
from the front of l.he Eureka. This is to darken the nests, 
for we are going to put our Eureka with the front edge of 
this cover a short distance from the wall. If we place It 
with an end resting against another wall, we tempt the 
fowls to lay in the corner, thus made under the cover; hence 
we shall place it so as to leave about a foot at least at either 
end. Our box is nearly finished. (I could have made three or 
fourinthetimeithas taken to write this.) We take a ten-inch 
board, 44% inches long, and nail it across the bottom of the 
back edges of the partitions. (See I, Fig. 2.) Above this 
we nail a lath, leaving a space of about three-eighths of an 
inch between it and the board; then another space of three- 
eighths of an inch and another lath (see J, J, Fig. 2), and 
our Eureka Nest Box is ready for business. 



Ready for Service. 



We now remove our old nests, and place the Eureka as 
near as possible to the exact spot the former occupied. Fill 
each nest and confining pen to the top of baseboards with 
nesting material; tack all doors back to keep them open, 
and let the hens use them. After a week or ten days we 
let the doors down, and the hens will lay in Eureka as 
though they have never laid anywhere else. It will be ob- 
served that a single box answers for each pen of fowls; 
that there is absolutely nothing to injure or frighten them; 
nothing to get out of order; no traps of any kind to set; 
simply release the layer and mark her egg with the number 
of her leg band. 

I wish to impress on the mind of the reader that the 
dimensions here given are not arbitrary; and to pin his 
mind to the fact i for a thorough understanding of these in- 
structions) that I have here given exact measurements only 
to carry out my assumed illustration for building a four- 
section bo.x with ten-inch square nests and confining pens. 
It is important to have the nests neither too large nor yet 
too small. If too large, a second hen can enter a nest or 
confining pen while it is occupied, in which case the last 
comer usually keeps the door on her back, allowing either 
the first to leave the nest at will, or other hens to squeeze 
themselves in on 
top of both. The 
required dimen- 
sions are easily 
obtained by go- 
ing into our pens, 
holding a f 
rule in our hands 
and without dis- 
turbing our lay- 



quickly obtain(.i(J :., J 

the desired infor- \ i ; ! i '^ \ 

m a t i o n. The / \ \ ' ■ I \ 

baseboards must ^ — ' * 

be made a little ^■■'■■--^"«"S-"™to£ Door <hac Forms Trap. 

over one-third the height of the box; the top strips vary 
from two inches to three and one-half inches wide, accord- 
ing to the size of fcwls. 

As before stated, the nests are dark. When little light 
entei-s, filters through the confining pen, hence when a nest 
or confining pen is occupied, the occupant's body still further 
darkens the nest; and as fowls cannot see in the dark, a 
second hen, seeking a place wherein to deposit her egg, does 



Top Cover 



ot 



v:Mor 



56 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



not see the nest, and seeks an unoccupied one. I am often 
asked what is to prevent anottier hen entering a nest after 
the first one has laid there, and left it for the confining pen; 
also why I do not dispense with the confining pen. My 
reply to the first question is. there is nothing to prevent the 
second fowl entering the nest vacated by the first, but her 
eyesight; and, further, I do not want to create any other 
obstacle than that which nature gave her. If her sight is 
good enough to enable her to see it, I want her to go in, and 
I wish all of them were endowed with good sight. 

I have a distinct recollection of the trials that attended 
my efforts when I was experimenting with my trap nest 
devices, and how I found two eggs outside of the nests for 
evjry three that were deposited where I wanted them to be. 
I know from a most trying experience, that one can in- 
stantly tell which one of two hens laid a certain egg — with 
rare exceptions; but let him try to say which one of five, or 
six, or a pen of fowls, laid a certain egg, and he will find 
it absolutely impossible to do it— with equally rare excep- 
tirns. 

Accuracy of Records. 

While experimenting with my many trap nest schemes, 
I found forty to fifty per cent of the egg yield outside of the 
nests — where I could not give credit to the layer, much less 
set such eggs. Since "I have found it" in my present simple 
device, the only eggs I lose are the few dropped on the roost 
at night, or now and then dropped in the runs. Perhaps a 
dozen times in the years in which the Eureka has been in 



use in my pens, have I found a hen in a nest, another in the 
confining pen in back of it, with one or two eggs under 
the former. In such cases, I simply marked the egg or eggs 
with both hens' numbers, and by comparing with a former 
or suhsequent day's yield, I had no chance to doubt as to 
which hen laid it (or each), and to let no cloud of doubt 
question the accuracy of my pedigrees. I have never set these 
few eggs; but the record of laying is complete — except for 
the few eggs found as above mentioned — on roost or in runs, 
and of such, no accurate account is possible. It is only by 
being careful in these small matters that reliable data can 
be obtained. A record that is defective in the smallest 
particular is worse than none. 

I do not dispense with the confining pens because I want 
to separate the fowl from her egg as far and as quickly as 
possible, so as to minimize the vice of egg eating and 
the loss from broken eggs. The attention the Eureka re- 
quires, so far as accuracy in laying records, health and com- 
fort of fowls are concerned, is from fifteen to thirty seconds 
per pen at feeding time, three times daily. But whether one 
needs the eggs for hatching or for market, it appears to me 
that best results cannot be had in any season of the year, 
with any kind of nest, unless the eggs are more frequently 
gathered. For either purpose, no one wants chilled eggs in 
winter, nor partly incubated eggs in summer, and to avoid 
both I gather the eggs every hour, and in extremes of heat 
or cold, every half hour, from ten to three o'clock, 

A. J. SILBERSTEIN. 



BETTER LAYERS AND MORE OF THEM. 

Individual Records the Means by Which a Strain of Layers is Produced — Proper Food, Sufficient 
Exercise and Free Range— Care and Feeding of the Young — An Egg-producing Ration 
— A New Style Laying and Breeding House Claimed to Possess the Advan- 
tages of the Scratching Shed House Without Its Disadvantages. 



By C. BRICAULT, M. D. V. 




HEN some six years ago we began poultry 
keeping it was with the fixed purpose of 
breeding a strain that would be a source of 
profit as egg layers. We did not, however, lose 
!J' sight of the profits to be derived from dressed 
poultry, as about fifty per cent of the product 
would be males. In order that they should 
be profitably disposed of they must be of a quick maturing 
breed, possessing the desired qualities for our markets, 
namely, yellow skin and legs and round, full breasts. We 
had these fixed ideas about what we would like in a breed, 
and also what we would like this breed to produce in the 
number of eggs laid. How we were to accomplish all this 
seemed to us easy at that time, but as difficulties began to 
present themselves we began to discover that our task was 
not as easy as it seemed at first. We had been reading for 
some time about the good practical qualities of some fami- 
lies of White Wyandottes, so we decided to adopt that breed 
for our purpose. We looked up those breeders having the 
desired qualities in their birds that we wanted and bought 
eggs and stock. 

Almost from the start we saw the necessity of knowing 
just what each bird was doing in order that we could work 
along the lines we had mapped out. While we were devis- 
ing some means by which we could record each hen's doings, 



we spoke to a friend of ours of our plan and he offered to 
make us a nest box which would solve that question for us. 
I well remember coming home that evening with the box 
under my buggy seat and my imagination afire anticipating 
the wonderful results that would follow. The box was 
placed that night in the pen and early the following morning 
I was on hand to watch its operation. Although that box 
was not all that could be desired, it opened to us the great 
possibilities that can be gained by its use. Since then we 
have used and are using different kinds with varying suc- 
cess, and we would not think we were doing our best with- 
out them. It is only by keeping an accurate record of each 
hen that we can ever make any progress in breeding. We 
mean any real progress. Don't tell us that it is by breeding 
from a whole pen that you can build a strain of layers. That 
a whole flock of hens can be bred to lay 200 eggs or more 
a year is no more to be doubted, but the shortest road to that 
end is by systematic, careful line breeding of males and 
females, and by knowing just what each hen is doing. 



Line Breeding^. 



We believe in line breeding as the most successful 
method to obtain results, whether breeding for feather or 
for eggs and meat. Many things that happened to us in our 
breeding operations justify us in believing that feathers and 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 




Hen at le£t is No. 4, with record of 221 f 
. 25 with record of 241 eggs. No. 25 is ' 
ke. The cockerels in oval space are 
•antages of the Scratching Shed plan, v, 



fs; now four years old and still laying; dam of hen in middle, 
; dam of pullet B-26, shown at the right, who has her record to 
ns of No. 25. Says Dr. Bricault: "This honse combines all the 

rt those of the Closed House." 



eggs can he bred in one individual — oi-, in otlier words, we 
are trying hard to breed 90 pointers and 200 eggers in one 
individual. We have not as yet made much progress in the 
96 point line, but we have made some, and what little we 
have gained makes us firmer in the belief that it can be done. 
One thing we have proved to our satisfaction is that a bird 
need not be brassy to be vigorous, as some would have us 
to believe. We have birds that are chalk white, and still 
are iust as vigorous and whose eggs have proved just as 
fertile as the most brassy ones. Brassiness has simply got 
to be bred out, just as large egg yield has to be bred in. We 
firmly believe that large egg yields can only be had when 
we breed in line from our best layers. 

This breeding in line means to transmit the qualities 
and organic development of our birds by using a system 
with which the most successful breeders of animals in the 
world have been successful. It means also that the egg 
must be well hatched and the chick well brooded, so that it 
begins to develop well from the start. The proper develop- 
ment of the pullet is one of the principal factors which go 
to make the great layer. Proper food, sufficient exercise 
and free range when old enough are three requisites of a suc- 
cessful method of growing the future layer. 

Hatching and Brooding. 

We do all our hatching with incubators. The incuba- 
tors are placed in our house cellar, a part of which has been 
partitioned off for that purpose. A large window on the 



south side admits all the fresh air that is needed. We have 
had some grand hatches from our machines placed in this 
cellar. The eggs are put in the incubator in the morning, 
and at night the machines are generally running steadily. 
Before putting the eggs in we light the lamps and get the 
temperature to 102%. When it has been running a whole 
day steadily we pui the eggs in. That, of course, reduces 
the temperature. We put the eggs in in the morning so 
that at night the temperature is running at the proper 
degree of heat and can be left to itself without any fear. We 
turri the eggs twice a day. On the sixth day we make our 
first test, all those proving infertile are discarded. On the 
fourteenth day we make another test and all those not 
showing strong germs are rejected. On the eighteenth day 
we place all the eggs from each hen under a small wire box 
in the tray. This is done in order to identify each chick 
when hatched. After the chicks are thirty-six hours old we 
take the contents of each box, band them, inscribe the num- 
ber on our record book and place about sixty in each 
brooder. For bands for young chicks we use pigeon bands. 
They are small aluminum bands numbered as desired. 

Before putting the chicks into the brooder we first heat 
the brooders to 90 degrees. The bottom of the broodei-s is 
carpeted with green cut clover, into which we throw a small 
handful of millet seed. We always use great care in taking 
the chicks from the incubator so that they will not get 
chilled. We have a basket for the purpose. This basket 
has a lid and the whole inside is lined with two inches of 



58 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



cotton batting, and is previously warmed before putting the 
chi»ks in. We believe more chicks die through not being 
properly cared for at the time they are moved from the 
incubator to the brooder than one would believe. Those 
chicks that paste up behind in a few days have been chilled 
during this removal. In the brooder we place a small foun- 
tain filled with lukewarm water, a box containing grit, char- 
coal and bran. Our brooders are placed inside a small house 
six feet wide and eight feet long, having a window and tJoor 
on the south front. 

Food for Youngf Chicks. 

Our food for young chicks is a prepared bread, composed 
of two-thirds whole wheat flour and one-third corn meal, 
mixed with milk and baked thoroughly. When dry it is 
crumbled and fed on a small piece of board. They get noth- 
ing but this bread and the few millet seeds that they scratch 
for in the litter for the first fifteen days. We have tried all 
the different feeding methods that we read and heard of, 
but this one lias given better results than any other. When 



cut bone, and what a sight it is to see the little fellows tum- 
ble over each other for these bits of fhne. For green food 
before grass begins to grow we use cabbage leaves, cut up 
fine, also lettuce leaves. 

As soon as we find that the chicks prefer to roost on the 
brooder than to stay inside at night, we remove the brooder 
and place at the back of the house two small roosts. We 
then change the clover that has been used for scratching, 
and replace it with clean material. When the chicks are 
large enough so that we can distinguish the sex, we separate 
them, placing the pullets on one part of the farm and the 
cockerels on another, giving each free range, a privilege 
which they do not fail to use. About that time we begin to 
feed three times a day, the same as we do the breeding 
stock. The band used on the chicks when taken from the 
incubator, being only a flat ring of aluminum, we are able 
to enlarge to suit the growing size of the chick's leg until 
now. We now remove this band and replace it by a perma- 
nent band, always giving to each chick the same number. 
They are weighed and all the details entered in our book. 



1 






■A 


'^'- ;:Jii»inlpm 


1^'' " 'l 


mm 

A 


i 



two weeks old we add a little cracked wheat and pin-head 
oatmeal to the millet seed, which we scatter in the litter as 
before, still continuing the bread every three hours as be- 
fore. We feed five times a day during the first two weeks; 
four times a day until eight weeks old, then three times a 
day for the breeding stock. 

When two weeks old we reduce the heat in the brooder 
to S.5 degrees; at one month old to 75 degrees, then gradu- 
ally to 70 until they are well feathered out. At four weeks 
old we use whole grain and begin to feed a little cracked 
corn. We aim to give our chicks exercise from the first day. 
The floor of the brooder house is coarse sand. This we also 
cover with green cut clover, and into this we throw all the 
grain. They soon learn to scratch and the way they make 
the clover fly is amusing. The more they scratch the 
healthier they will be. After the first two weeks we open 
the sliding windows to the yards and let them out. If any 
snow covers the ground we sweep it away for a few feet and 
let them go. We continue this way of feeding until six 
weeks old. when we discontinue the bread and replace it 
with a mash (given at night) composed of one-third corn 
meal, two-thirds bran with about five per cent of animal 
meal scalded. Three times a week we begia to feed a little 



We weigh them again October 1, before placing them in the 
breeding pens. 

Eggf Producing Ration. 

The question of what to feed for best results has kept 
us awake many a night. After feeding a very narrow ration 
and also a very wide ration we came to the conclusion by 
observing the results of both methods that a ration analyz- 
ing 1:4 gave us the best results with Wyandottes. We are 
firm believers in as large a variety of foods as possible for 
best results. Green food in winter must be given with a 
liberal hand. Animal food is absolutely necessary, for you 
cannot get eggs without it. We believe in corn, but not 
corn alone. Cut clover we very much believe in, and should 
not think of going without it. We want to feed our hens 
with as cheap a ration as possible consistent with the largest 
egg yield. No doubt our method of feeding can be improved 
on, and we should much like to do so. We buy the best 
grains on the market, and all the hard grain is fed in litter 
six inches deep. For grain we use wheat, oats, barley, corn 
and buckwheat. 

We have adopted feeding the mash at night, and while 
we doubt if this manner of feeding has improved the egg 
yield we continue to do so first because it has not given us 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



59 



worse results, also because it cheapens the ration, and be- 
cause it is much less work. Our mash at this season of the 
year is composed as follows: Bran, 20 pounds; ground oats, 
20 pounds; ground barley, 15 pounds; corn meal, 15 pounds; 
buckwheat middlings, 10 pounds; linseed meal, 10 pounds; 
meat meal, 10 pounds. We prepare the mash by boiling 
about one-quarter the quantity of clover to what we use of 
the ground grains. To this we add the animal meal, about 
one-eighth to one-quarter of an ounce to each hen. When 
this is boiling we add the meals. We stir the whole to the 
proper consistency. We like the mash to be just a little 
"sticky." Three days in the week we use vegetables, cut 
up in small pieces and boiled, for the mash instead of 
clover. On the days we feed cut bone we feed only one- 
eighth of an ounce of meat meal per hen and all the cut 
bone they will eat. 

In each pen is a large trough in which the mash is fed. 
This trough is long enough to permit of all the birds eating 
at one time. Every month we weigh our birds and any that 



which a less careful poultryman will not, but no matter how 
well we understand this difficult part of the work, and no 
matter how careful we are in making use of our knowledge 
in this direction, it will be observed that in every flock of 
pullets raised, fed and cared for in the same manner and 
under the same conditions, that several will lay almost 
double the number of eggs that others will in the same pen. 
With but few exceptions, these large egg producers were 
born with this valuable trait, and it is by breeding from 
these heavy layers that we can increase the average egg 
yield of our flock. Breeding systematically and pereistently 
from our heaviest layers will develop a strain of layers 
which will pay us generously for our work. No other 
method will give us as good results. 

Trap Nests Necessary. 
In order to follow this system of breeding it will be 
found of absolute necessity to ascertain the number of eggs 
each hen lays. Fortunately we have at our disposition the 




ntlotte ( 



is found overweight is put in a spare pen and dieted for a 
few days. When only the male bird is found too heavy we 
close him. up in the laying room while the hens are eating 
the mash, and allow him to eat only the hard grain in the 
litter. All our pens are piped and the stock has constant 
access to clean, fresh water, cool in warm weather and 
warmed in cold weather. 

Our bill of fare is arranged as follows: 



Monday 


. ..Wheat. 


Cabbage, Oats. 


Mash. 


Tuesday .... 


. ..Barley. 


Mangels, Cut Bone 


Mash. 


Wednesday .. 


...Corn. 


Cabbage, Wheat. 


Mash. 


Thursday 


....Oats. 


Boiled Clover. 


Buckwheat 


Friday 


. ..Cut Bone 


Mangels, Barley. 


Mash. 


Saturday .... 


....Wheat. 


Cabbage. Oats, 


Mash. 


Sunday 


Barley. 


Cut Bone. 


Wheat. 



If at any meal the hens do not seem to be hungry, we 
make a note of that pen and feed only a small quantity at 
the next meal. If they still seem to lack their usual appe- 
tite we omit one meal. We aim to be very regular in the 
time of feeding, in fact we believe this small point is very 
important. 

By properly feeding our hens, we can obtain results 



automatic nest which will help us to accomplish this accu- 
rately. This valuable addition to the practical poultryman's 
needs has been severely criticised by some, but its advan- 
tages cannot be overlooked and no real progress can be 
made without its use. By placing these trap nests in the 
pens it will be an easy matter to distinguish the best layers 
from the poorest. The members of the flock that do not lay 
enough eggs to pay a profit should be disposed of to the 
butcher. 

You can overcome the greatest drawbacks to trap nects 
by putting in the pens half as many nests as there are 
layers and placing them on a platform twenty inches above 
the floor. By this arrangement the work is reduced to a 
minimum and the hens have the advantage of using the 
whole floor space. By this plan you can gather the eggs 
with more ease and at a saving of fifty per cent in time, as 
compared with nests that are under the drop boards. With 
this number of nests in the pens there will be no need of 
visiting them oftener than four times a day. 

Keeping the Records. 

When your pens are equipped as advised above, the next 
thing to do is to place a leg liand around one leg of each hen. 



6o 



RGGS AND EGG EARMS. 



These leg bands can be stamped with a number, letter, or 
both, then you are ready to begin recoid keeping. As you 
go ihe i-ounds of ihe nests, you release the hens confined 
iu them, note their numbers on the leg bands, and mark each 
egg, or enter it at once on record sheets kept for the pur- 
pose. You may find some customers who object to having 
anything written on the eggs they buy; many grocers and 
merchants object to this. The only remedy is to enter the 
numbers on the egg record sheet, or on a small slate carried 
around by the attendant, and, later, enter them on the egg 
record sheets. If the eggs are wanted for hatching, it will 
then become necessary to mark each egg. 

There is no need of complicated record keeping. Tlie 
record sheets on which are written the number of each hen. 
and the dates on which she lays, checked off, and a small 
book are all that are required. Every page of this book is 
ruled on in three sections, and in each of these is entered 
the number of one hen, her record, her dam's record, and 
her sire's dam's record: also the number of each chick 
hatched from her eggs. When a chick dies, the letter D is 
written across its number. When we are ready to begin 
liatching eaih bpn's eggs are incubated separately under a 



breeding you can improve your egg yield quicker than by 
.selection. But be very careful to selef* only the most vig- 
orous and healthiest individuals from your few best layers. 

We will suppose you have just such a hen with a large 
egg record. You can mate her to her most vigorous and 
be.^t developed son, and in this same pen you may also put 
the hens which have given you the largest number of eggs. 
The following year you can mate one of these inbred cock- 
erels to the pullets bred by the first cockerel, but out of the 
other hens — they will be half sistei-s. Of course, you will 
always pick out your highest rerui'd hens to mate to these 
rlioice breeders. 

Ycu will be pleased with egg records of the pullets bred 
from this last m.ating. The majority will be excellent lay- 
ers, and will be the very best of breeders. If you have been 
careful to select only vigorous birds and the best layers in 
your matings, you will notice very soon a great improve- 
ment in the average egg yield. You can then use these in- 
bred cockerels on unrelated hens, but only on the good lay- 
ers, and then follow up as before. 

tireat productiveness in our hens is a trait which i an 
be easily fixed by breeding. The princiides governing our 




hen or placed in a compartment of a pedigree tray in the 
incubator. When the chicks are hatched each one is marked 
by placing around one of its legs a small leg band. As they 
grow older these bands are changed for larger ones. 

Mating for Egg Production. 

One of the most important points in mating your pen 
for egg production, is the selection of che male birds, for we 
lean to the belief that it is through her sons that a great 
layer transmits her qualities. Use none but well developed, 
vigorous sons of your very best layers. Another equally im- 
j)yrtant thing in selecting your breedere, is vigor. Choose 
only the most vigorous hens and cockerels. Vigor is the 
outward sign of a strong constitution, and a good layer must 
be strong and vigorous to enable her to digest and assimilate 
the food necessary to lay a large number of eggs. By thus 
selecting each year the most vigorous descendants of your 
best layers, you will intensify both these qualities in your 
strain and produce layers that will lay more eggs than their 
ancestors did. 

When you have arrived at this period of your breeding 
operations, that is, when by a tew years of this systematic 
breeding you have fixed vigor, and a good egg record in your 
strain, you can profitably practice some inbreeding. By in- 



brieding are the same us those wliich apply to all other 
classes of animal breeding; it is only the application that 
differs. With the fancier it is feathers; with us it is eggs; 
both can be developed to perfection by the same principles 
of breeding. There is nothing to prevent you, if you so 
desire, from improving both the egg yield and exhibition 
points of your .strain, but the progress will be much slower. 
The results, however, will be more pleasing in the end. To 
us this question of breeding layers is a most fascinating one 
and it is one which offers more real advantages to the inter- 
ested poultryman than would be believed at first. Breeding 
from our best layers systematically is, to our way of think- 
ing, tlie only sure way of increasing the profits. 

New Style Laying-Breeding House. 

Several years' use of the "open scratching-shed" house 
made us appreciate the full value of fre^h air as an impor- 
tant factor in keeping our breeding stock in the best of 
health, resulting in more fertile eggs, and in stronger chicks, 
more easily raised. With all its many good points, this style 
of house has many disadvantages, especially for our cold cli- 
mate, which one would like to have eliminated. We were 
also familiar with the closed house and knew its many faults. 
Hence, in building our new house we knew what to avoid 
and what improvements to make. The result was the house 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



illustrated herewith, which we lielicve to be the Ijest one yet 
devised in which to keep our breeding-laying stock. 

We are flrni believers in pure air for our hens. We have 
had ample opportunity to note its good effect on egg pro- 
duction; and it is our opinion that much of the failures in 
keeping hens profitably is due to this lack of pure air in the 
poultry house. But strong as we are in our belief of the 
necessity of fresh air we do not believe that our hens should 
be exposed to the discomfort of a cold roosting room. That 
is why we close the doors of our house after sundown dur- 
ing the cold weather and thereby provide them a warm 
room to sleep in. During the day when they are scratching 
in the litter they don't mind it at all. We noticed in our 
"open shed" that :)11 the hens would stay there practically 
all the time during the day, even when it was very cold, so 
that the roosting room was practically lost room. 

The large door in the 
south front wa J the 3im 
plo solution to this 
problem. With coiiect 
handling, this dooi al 
lows us to ghe the hens 
all the pure air possible 
during the day and 
when the house has 
been so ventilated in 
daytime, it contain^ all 
the pure an needed 
from the time it is 
closed at night until il 
is opened the ne\i 
morning. Of course dui 
ing mild weathei thf 
upper part is left open 
and the cloth cuitain 
inserted in the opening 
for the night the same 
thing is done duiing a 
very stormy dav On 
cold, bright (lavs this 
curtain is omitted If 
not too windv on these 
cold days the ^\lole 
door is opened and the 
sun just covcis the 
whole floor of the house 
How the hens liKe this 
can only be appiecidteil 
by going from ptn to 
pen and noting then 
contented appeani (f is 
over the pen. 

The pens wh h aio l(l\12 will easily accommodate 
twelve to fifteen females and one male. It will cost less 
than the open-shed house, and no more than the closed 
house, over which it has so many advantages, that those 
using the closed house would never return to that style it 
they oner tried this one, for it combines ;ill the pssentials 
necpssaiy In n siH'cessful poultry bouse. 

Dimensions of the House. 

Our house is ten feet 'wide, seven and one-halt feet high 
in front and five and one-half feet in rear, divided into pens 
10x12. The frame is 2x4 for sills, plates and rafters, and 
2x3 for studding. The sills are laid ten inches from the 
ground on cedar posts sunk two feet in the ground. It is 
boarded up with hemlock boards, first by imbedding the bot- 
tom board four inches in the ground, and having this bottom 




ill inaiiiiP 



board come to cover half the width of the sill, or one inch 
only. Then the upper boarding begins at this point, being 
nailed on the other half of the sill, thus making a tight joint 
at the bottom and avoiding any drafts, a small point, but 
an important one. 

The house is filled inside with gravelly sand up to the 
top of sills, making a dry, warm floor. To make the house 
tight along the back wall near the roof, the rafters are cut 
even with the plates, and boards run up even with top of 
rafters. Then in laying the paper we begin at the back, 
lapping the paper well on the roof boards. Then a course 
of shingles is nailed on this, and another on this one to 
break joints. Then the roof paper is laid over the shingles, 
letting these project about six inches from the back wall, to 
allow them to carry the water away from the building. The 
p.iper on the back wall is laid vertically, and lapped about 
three inches; the root 
paper is laid lengthwise 
of the 'building and also 
well lapped. 

We first cover the 
boards with a cheap 
grade of building paper; 
over this a thickness ot 
Cabot's quilting is laid, 
then over all the Ne- 
lioiiset Red Rope Roof- 
ing, the whole held 
in place with small 
nails and tin heads, 
which come with the 
paper. These tin heads 
should be painted, when 
they will last for a good 
many years. We prefer 
to nail the paper In this 
manner than to use 
■leats. which we do noi 
think as good. 

The South Front. 

The south front con- 
tains a large door 4V4 
l)y (ji^ feet; also a win- 
low on each side of it. 
Phis door is divided in 
(wo parts, the upper 
Iiart, which is 2% ft. by 
'* ~ 41/^, is hinged to the 

" '^° ''^ plate and swings up 

igunst til 1 itt(is t( wludi il IS secured by two hooks. On 
stormy davs oi ( ii mild nights 'his upper part of the door 
IS opened and a cloth tuitain is inserted in its place. The 
lowFi part of tue door is hinged to the side and opens side- 
ways. Behind this lower part of the door is a slot-like 
arrangement into which is slipped the curtain which is used 
in the upper part when this is opened. This cloth curtain 
is simply a 2-inch frame on which is tacked oiled muslin. 
The windows on each side of the door are ordinary 2-sasli 
12-light windows, and can be operated up and down at will. 
In warm weather when the doors all open, also the windows, 
this house is practically an open shed, and the most comfort- 
abli place possible for the hens. 

A small opening one foot square was placed nfear the 
floor, next to the door, to allow the hens the use of the 
yarde when it is necessary to close the bottom of the door 
in early fall or during rainy weather. This renders it op- 
tional with the fowls to ,§o out or stay within. 



62 



EGGS AND KGG FARMS. 



Inside Arrangements. 

The divisions between pens are made solid, except the 
doors, which are 2-inch wire netting nailed to 4-inch frames. 
A good fitting door we appreciate very much, and ours were 
made to fit well. They are hinged on double action spring 
hinges and work perfectly. Probably because our doors fit 
well and we use double action hinges we have never felt 
the need of a passageway. Going through the-pens with a 
pail in each hand, it is practically no trouble to push the 
doors open with your foot. But in ninety per cent of the 
poultry houses we have visited we have found very poor 
fitting doors, and no wonder these poultrymen want a hall- 
way to their house. 

Along the back wall 18 inches from the floor is placed 
the drop board; six inches above that two roosts, which are 
2x3. with corners rounded off and laid on the 2-inch side. 
Sixteen inches above the roosts is a row of coops, 30 inches 
in depth running the whole length of the back wall. These 



coops we find very handy for extra males, broody hens, or 
to put in a pair or trio preparatory to §Jiipping. 

Under the drop boards are the trap nests. We tried the 
nestsonaplatform, but did not like that, because more of the 
hens would not use them than when placed under the plat- 
form. In the division between pens are the drinking ves- 
sels, raised 10 inches from the floor. These are made of gal- 
vanized iron, 14 inches in diameter and S inches deep. Next 
to these is a self-feeding box 36 inches long divided into 
three compartments, one for beef scraps, which we always 
keep before our hens; the others contain oyster shell, grit 
and charcoal. 

The floor of each pen is carpeted with clover hay, into 
which all the hard grain is fed. Taken altogether, this 
house as it is to-day is giving us the best of results, and is to 
our way of thinking the most comfortable, practical house 
we have ever used. It combines all the essentials of a prac- 
tical, successful, up-to-date poultry house. 

C. BRICAULT, M. D. V. 



BREEDING IN PAIRS. 



Commence with a Clear Object, and Take Notes by the Way. 



By FRANK W. BREED. 



-N MY opinion, and my experience has warranted me 
in it — one pair is all any amateur or veteran can 
afford to start with, if he is aiming for the top. 
You may go to any noted breeder of good speci- 
mens and ask him how he got his start, and in 
nineteen cases out of twenty he will tell you of a cer- 
tain old hen or cock that put him on the road to success, 
and he can trace all his stock back to this old bird. 

The Light Brahraas were bred up from mystery and ob- 
scurity to the present degree of excellence in this manner. 
The best Golden and Silver Wyandottes in America to-day 
were six years ago embodied in two pairs of fowls of un- 
known parentage. 

The Silver Wyandottes started from a 90^^ point cock- 
erel, mated to a 92 point hen, and by selecting the best male 
and female each year and mating them respectively to their 
sire and dam, they were raised to their pinnacle of great- 
ness in 1894, when two cockerels scored 94 points each 
alongside of three pullets with scores of 95 points, and these 
values given by no less a man than that veteran and father 
of the score card, Isaac K. Feloh. 

The Goldens set a mark this season, that has never been 
equaled and probably will never be surpassed, at 95, 94% 
and 94 for cockerels, pullets 95%, 95% and 95 points, and 
these cards made and signed by that peer of all judges, 
Sharp Butterfleld. This strain, for we can with justice call 
it nothing else, sprung from a large, clear colored, well 
laced, three-year-old cock mated to a hen of unknown age 
and breeding. The best female from this mating was bred 
back to her sire and the best cockerel to his dam and so on, 
with new blood introduced only once up to this writing, and 

Note — We a.sk the privilege of adding a fact or two to the above exceUent advice. f)n a visit to 
k. Sharp, proprietors, our attention was directed to a pair of tine Buff Cochins, and Mr. .Arthur Shai 
over $1,000 worth of cockerels." This may seem fabulous to many R. P. J. readers, but lct.it be knov 
themselves paid an English breeder $500 for a single pair of Buffs. At Oakland Farm they mate up 
in their experienced judgment, capable of producing improved specimens. They 
tig and rearing 90 j^er cent of inferior fov 



to-day they stand a living witness of what can be done with 
one pair. 

Begin With a Pair. 

Are not the cases cited above enough to convince us that 
the correct way to begin is with a pair, if we wish to quickly 
and firmly place ourselves at the front? Or will we go 
on breeding from a pen, or two or three pens, of eight to 
ten fowls? In whaA way can we make any progress by such 
indifferent methods? We can keep no track of the eggs laid 
and consequently no record of the chicks raised, only on the 
side of their sire, and when it comes to our next year's mat- 
ings, how are we to proceed? We take our best cockerel 
and mate him again with our best females and expect them 
to throw something better than themselves; but, as a rule, 
do they? Is not the male liable to come in with some of his 
unknown dam's blood, if she is a strong breeder, and bring 
all of our year's work, so far as this season's work is con- 
cerned, to naught? 

On the other hand, had we commenced with one pair, 
how would we have fared? Just in this way: We mate a 
cockerel that is the progeny of our best male, bred with his 
daughters, which gives him three-fourths of the blood of his 
sire to transmit his good qualities with, to a pen of pullets, 
the offspring of our first female bred to her best son. From 
such a mating can we expect anything but good ones, pro- 
vided the pair with which we started were good? Birds 
from such a yard, if not quite up to standard requirements, 
are valueless as breeders when placed alongside of fowls 
from such a mating as first jioted. Such stock cannot help 
but produce good ones, for they can only produce just such 
stock as that from which they sprung. 



such birds i 

waste in breeding backwards to inferior stock, or 

as is so often the case under the prevailing system 



Oakland Poultry Farm, Jlessrs. John C. & .\r 
p remarked: "From that pair we sold, last se 
n that Sharp Brothers, some three or tour years 
;n pairs and trios extensively, yarding together 
lo not sell eggs at any price, and have no tin 
■Is in order to secure 10 per cent realU choice ( 



■lUandl.' 




EXPERIMENTS 




,f; 







EXPERIMENT ON FEEDING FOR EGGS. 



At a Cost of Sixty-two Cents per Head for Food a Pen of Four Leghorn Pullets Lay an Average 

of One Hundred and Eighty-two Eggs Each per Year and Show a Profit of Two 

Hundred Per Cent — Feeding Based Upon the Composition of the 

Egg — Comparative Feeding Value of Wheat and Corn. 



(Extracts from a Report by JAMES DRYDEN, Superintendent of the Utah Experiment Farm.) 



NB thing that has been demonstrated, and that 
by the Utah Experiment Station, is that there 
is money in hens. A profit of 200 per cent was 
made on the cost of food during the year. That 
is, a pen of four pullets laid an average of 182 
eggs each during the year, which began and 
ended in November. They were Leghorn pullets. It cost 
during that year 62 cents to feed each pullet; that is, the 
food consumed charged at regular market prices cost 62 
cents. Wheat, which was about half the cost of all the food, 
was charged at 70 cents a bushel. The eggs were sold at 
market prices in Logan. Several months they were ten 
rents a dozen and one month they were 2.5 cents. The 182 
eggs at those prices were worth $1.88. That is a profit of 
$1.26 per fowl. These results have been confirmed by the 
experiments of the subsequent year, 1897-1898. 

It is safe to say that at the present prices of eggs aud 
food, a profit of from $1 to $1.50 on a food cost of 62 cents is 
quite within the reach of intelligent management. I say 
intelligent management. It cannot be done, however, with 
birds that have been bred to the dunghill for several gener- 
ations. It cannot be done with birds that have been bred for 
the show ring for several generations; they must be bred 
for eggs just as the Jersey has been bred for milk. Nor can 
it be done with hens that have long discarded their teeth. 
The hen after carrying an egg laying business for two years 
has done her part to civilize the world and after that be- 
comes a back number. Neither can the 200 per cent per- 
formance be reached unless the chick is hatched early 
enough in the spring, so that by the end of October or No- 
vember she is ready for business. 

What to feed is probably the most difficult of the many 
problems in successful poultry culture. In studying the 
question of feeding we ought to begin by studying the egg, 
just as a manufacturer of a good plow knows exactly what 
materials are necessary for the completed plow before he 
begins work on the raw material. The hen is an egg fac- 
tory, and we must put the rig^t kind of raw material into 
that factory if v.-e expect to get eggs from it. We should 



study the composition of the egg. The egg has a composi- 
tion. We must not forget that. It is composed of several 
constituents; we must not forget that, either. A great many 
people do forget it, however. From the way they feed the 
hen they seem to think it contains only one chemical com- 
pound. Many a man feeds the hen one variety of food, and 
if he does not get an egg by feeding on such a ration he de- 
clares there is no money in hens. Then he goes back to 
sheep farming and hog raising, cow farming and politics, 
and of course that is a good way back. 

But let us return to the composition of the egg; let us' 
talk of the composition of the egg, and then draw some con- 
clusions as to how to feed for eggs. An average egg will 
weigh two ounces; of that, 10.81 per cent is shell, 32.47 per 
cent is yolk, and 56.42 per cent is white, according to a Cal- 
ifornia analysis. The Shell is nearly all lime, or carbonate 
of lime. The yolk is composed of 50 per cent water, 15.5 per 
cent protein and 33.4 per cent fat, and about 1 per cent min- 
eral matter. Of the white. S6.48 per cent is water — a very 
cheap commodity, 12.07 per cent protein, .23 per cent fat, 
and .34 per cent mineral matter, of the total weight of the 
egg 65 per cent is water. More than an ounce of water, 
therefore, is stored away in every egg. 

Of course, that does not mean that she must drink that 
amount of water, for a certain percentage of all poultry food 
is water. For instance, in wheat there is between 10 and 11 
per cent water; in other words, a hundred pounds of wheat 
contains 10 to 11 pounds of water. So, if a bran mash is fed, 
about half of that is water. By a little figuring we discover 
that the egg contains a quarter of an ounce of protein. How 
is the hen going to obtain that protein, supposing she is fed, 
as she very often is fed, on wheat and water? 

Wheat as a Food. 

Now there is in wheat about 12 per cent of protein, or 
12 ounces of protein in a hundred ounces of wheat. Sup- 
posing the hen weighs four pounds and that she eats four 
ounces of wheat a day -which she probably would not do 
very long. Supposing, further, that it takes three of those 



64 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



ounces of wheat to maintain the body, there is one ounce 
left, which the hen is very willing to convert into an egg. 
In one ounce of wheat there is just .12 ounce of protein, and 
we have seen that the egg contains .24 ounce or practically 
one-quarter of an ounce of protein. So that there is just 
half enough protein in one ounce of wheat to make an egg. 
If the hen, however, were inclined to lay an egg -only every 
other day, she could make half the egg with it and wait till 
the next day to get the requisite amount to furnish protein 
for the other half. An egg every other day is not so bad. 

But the egg contains something else besides protein. It 
contains .23 of an ounce of fat, or nearly as much fat as pro- 
tfin, not quite. Now that same ounce of wheat from which 
we got just half enough protein to make the egg contains .72 
of an ounce of carbohydrates and .02 of an ounce of fat, or 
say three-quarters of an ounce of carbohydrates and fat, or 
jusl. three times as much as the egg contains of fat. You see 
what a quandary you put the hen into hy feeding a straight 



But what about the shell? In the ounce of wheat there 
is only half as much shell material as#6 necessary for the 
egg. Like protein, there is a deficiency of just one-half. So 
that, in this ration of wheat alone, there is, in technical 
feeding language, a lack of balance. There is too much of 
one element and too little of another. There is too much of 
the fat-producing elements and too little of the protein and 
lime. What the hen does w^ith the food in such a case is 
pretty much of a problem. But it can safely be said, and 
there is practical experience enough to bear out the state- 
ment, that she will refuse to make eggs. Wheat has what is 
called a wide nutritive ratio, one of about one of protein to 
9.5 of carbohydrates, whereas profitable egg production calls 
for a ration of about 1 of protein to 4 of carbohydrates. 



Corn as a Food. 



Thi 




is true als 



resulli 



■ Ho 



West Virgi: 



isltj l-\.|)tl 



wheat ration. You give her just half enough protein to 
make the egg and three times as much carbohydrates and 
fat as are necessary. What is the hen going to do about itv 
She is an honest hen. Honesty has been so bred into her 
through all the centuries that She could not make an egg as 
some of the human bipeds make the filled cheese. She could 
not. if she would, take some of the surplus carbohydrates 
and fill them into the places where the protein ought to be. 
If you cotild by some means induce her to eat an ounce more 
of wheat she would then have the requisite amount of pro- 
tein, but she would then have six times as much carbohy- 
drates and fat as is necessary. In that case five-sixths of 
the carbohydrates must be either wasted, or the protein di- 
verted into other channels. 



I of corn, only more so. Corn has a 
atio than wheat and more disastrous 
would naturally follow an exclusive 
corn ration than a wheat ration. 

The only thing for the breeder to do is to 
feed some other kind or kinds of food that are 
known to be rich in protein. Bran is such a 
food. It has a ratio of about 1 to 3.8, but 
enough of it cannot he fed with wheat or corn 
to balance the ration properly. It is all right 
to feed a little of it, for the hen likes a variety. 
Some other food must be added which is still 
richer in protein, such as lean meat. Cotton- 
seed meal is also rich in protein, so is dried 
blood, which is nearly all protein. But the 
question of poultry foods and their composi- 
tion is too large a question to enter into a full 
discussion of here. Professor .Jaffa, of the 
University of California, recommends the fol- 
lowing standard rations for fowls; For 1,000 
I'ounris of laying hens, of about three to four 
1 ounds average weight, the food requirement 
per day would be from 65 to 70 pounds of total 
tood, or about 52 pounds of water free 
food, containing 9 pounds of digestible protein. 
or flesh-formers, 4 pounds of fat and about 20 
pounds of carbohydrates or starchy material. 
I^er hen the amount would he SVi ounces ot 
total food, 214 ounces of water free 
food and .43 ounces of flesh-formers, and 
about 1.2 ounces of fat and heat producers. 
For one thou.sancl pounds live weiglit of hens whose 
weight averages about 6 pounds, the food requirements per 
day would he 40 to 50 pounds of total food, containing 34 
pounds of absolutely dry matter, which should comprise fi 
pounds of digestible protein, 14 pounds of carbohydrates 
and 2 pounds of fat. If we calculate this for the individual 
fowl we would have 4V4 ounces of total food, SVi ounces 
dry matter, with .5S ounces of protein or flesh-formers and 
1.54 ounces of fat-formers and heat producers. At the Utah 
Station we are now running a series of feeding experiments 
and at the end of the year we hope to arrive at something 
definite in regard to rations, how much to feed, what to 
feed, and how to feed. 

JAMES DRYDEN. 



? of this e.vpenme 



lit is imrteiiiable. but the reader must not assume that corn is more valuable than wheat as a food for layinj 
the experiment gave better results than the narrow ration. By reference to the tables given it will be seen tl 
; quantity of bran and middlings, neither of which are particularly digestible nor nutritious, while the wide 
contained a considerable quantity of wheat. The experiment therefore simply illustrates the fact that a well balanced ration of nutritious food is 
than one that contains less nutrition. It cannot be successfully argued by the force of this experiment that corn is better than wheat, for 
called corn ration contained about half as much wheat as the wheat ration. The experiment proves thai 
the best ration that can be fed.aud that we cauuot judge altogether by its bare ratio.— Editor.] 



■ of well balanced 



PRODUCING AN EARLY MOULT. 



Experiment on Feeding Intended to Hasten the Moult and So Prepare Fowls for Winter Laying 
How the Fowls Were Fed— Comparative Results. 



Bv J. H. STEWART and HORACE ATWOOD, of the West Virginia University Experiment Stat 



HEN a specialty is made of producing winter eggs 
it is of much importance to have the hens shed 
their feathers early in the fall so that the new 
plumage may be grown before cold weather begins. 
In case moulting is much delayed the production 
of the new coat of feathers in cold weather is such a drain 
on the vitality of the fowls that few if any eggs are pro- 
duced until spring, while if the moult takes place early in 
the season the fowls begin winter in good condition and with 
proper housing and feeding may be made to lay 
during the entire winter. 

A few years ago Mr. Henry VanDreser pro- 
posed a way whereby fowls may be caused to 
moult as early in the fall as is desirable. Briefly 
this method consists in withholding food either 
wholly or in part for a few days, which stops 
egg production and reduces the weight of the 
fowls, and then feeding heavily on a ration suit- 
able for the formation of the feathers and the 
general building up of the system. 

The experiment designed to study this method 
was begun Aug. 5, 1902, with two pens of Rhod3 
Island Reds, and two pens of White Leghorns, 
about two years old. One pen each of Rhode 
Island Reds and White Leghorns received no 
food for thirteen days except what they could 
pick up in their runs, which had been sown to oats 
in the spring. These runs are fifteen feet wide and one 
hundred feet long and nearly all the oats had b?en 
picked from the heads before the beginning of the experi- 
ment. The other two lots of fowls were fed as usual on 
mash, beef scraps, corn, wheat, and oats. After the ex- 
piration of the thirteen days all four lots of fowls were 
fed lilverally. Each lot of fowls contained twenty hens and 
two cocks. 



The following table shows the number of eggs produced, 
during the iirst thirty days after the beginning of the test:. 



Lot. 


Breed. 


How Fed. 


Eggs Produced 


1 . . . 

X 

4 


Rhode Island Reds 
Rhode Island Reds 
White Leghorns 
White Leghorns 


Fed Continuously 
No Food , 
Fed Continuously 
No Food 


17 
172 

2^ 




1 Dropping 



Ilhisti 



Is Fed ( 




Lots two and four ceased laying entirely on the seventh 
day of the test. 

Thirty days after the test began the "no food" pen of 
Rhode Island Reds had practically a complete coat of new 
feathers, had begun to lay, and within a week from that 
time one-half of the hens were laying regularly, while the 
other lot of Rhode Island Reds were just beginning to 
moult, and the egg production had dropped down to two or 
three eggs per day. Both lots of White Leghorns were a 
trifle slower in moulting than the Rhode Island 
Reds, but otherwise the treatment affected them 
in a similar way. For ten days, beginning Aug- 
ust 19, the droppings boards in the two White 
Leghorn houses were not cleaned. At the ex- 
piration of this time photographs were taken 
and the plates show the great accumulation of 
feathers from the "no food" lot of fowls, and the 
relatively small amount of feathers w^hich had 
been shed by the other lot. 

Summary. 

Mature hens, which are fed very sparingly 
for about two weeks and then receive a rich 
nitrogenous ration, moult more rapidly and with 
more uniformity, and enter the cold weather of 
winter in better condition than similar fowls 
fed continually during the moulting period on 
an egg producing ration. 



PRODUCING EGGS AT MINIMUM COST. 



Digestible Nutrients Which Should be Fed to La/ing Stock to Furnish the Chemical Constituents 

of the Egg and Maintain the Hen in Health and Activity — Properties 

of Protein and Nitrogenous Materials. 

By JAMES R. COVERT, of the United States Experiment Station, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



fi?;r;r^3 S cold weather approaches and the marketabil- 
t //jA\ ity of eggs increases, the problem of how to 
1/ /'^\\ increase the yield of that toothsome article be- 
j y ' \ comes interesting. The veteran, the amateur, 
iLE — 2-1 and the good housewife vie with each other in 
an endea.vor to compound a ration which shall produce the 
maximum yield of eggs at a minimum food cost. The pub- 
lic is awakening to a realization of the food value of the 










Bxperii 



; Statii 



egg. More attention is given the subject of feeding, and the 
agricultural press are devoting more space to articles on 
poultry. Some of the Experiment Stations are investigating 
and throwing light in many hitherto dark corners. Their 
conclusions in many cases closely coincide with the teach- 
ings of experience and show conclusively that correct feed- 
ing is both a science and an art. 

If to the sum total of the chemical constituents in the 
eggs produced during a given season, we add the materials 
required to maintain the hen in health and activity, we have 
approximately the amount of digestible nutrients which 
should be present in her food. As we all know, the digesti- 
ble nutrients in food articles vary in amount and quality 
and some breeds of chickens return a greater profit in eggs 
for the food consumed than othere. This article, however, 
is confined to the subject of rations which must be prepared 
with due regard to the purposes for which the chickens are 
kept. Thus if we desire to produce flesh we must feed a 
ration richer in flesh forming ingredients than if we were 
feeding for eggs, which require nitrogenous materials. Re- 
ports of digestion experiments with fowls are seldom met 
■with, presumably because they are not often undertaken. 
The public should take an interest in the matter and de- 



mand of those expert in the determination of feeding prob- 
lems the solution of this question. 

It is assumed that the nutritive ratio for the laying hen 
and the milch cow should be approximately the same. Their 
products closely resemble each other, but their relative 
actual cost makes milk usually much the cheaper food arti- 
cle for man, especially in the larger cities. The German 
feeding standard for a milch cow calls for 15.4 pounds total 
nutritive substance in the digestible portion 
of her food, these nutritive substances to be 
proportioned as follows: Protein, 2.5 pounds; 
carbohydrates, 12.5 pounds, and ether extract, 
or fat, 0.4 pound. This gives a nutritive ratio 
of 1:5.4. In other words, to every pound of pro- 
tein there are 5.4 pounds of nitrogenous mate- 
rials. The nutritive ratio may be determined by 
multiplying the ether extract by 2.2, adding to 
this product the carbohydrates, and dividing 
by the protein. Each pound of fat or ether 
extract is assumed to have a feeding equiva- 
lent of 2. 2 pounds carbohydrates. The author 
has been unable to find the reports of any 
experiments determining the amounts of these 
materials necessary for fowls. For want of 
definite information on several points he is 
unable to do the subject justice, but with many 
apologies and a few misgivings, he will at- 
tempt to formulate a ration which shall be 
practicable for the farmer. 

it is usual to feed a ration of soft foods 
in the morning, with a whole grain ration 
at night. We will suppose we have our 
e following feed stuffs: Bran, corn meal, 
ground oats, oil cake, cottonseed meal, beef and blood 
meal, red clover hay, skim milk, with oats, rye, wheat and 
corn for a whole grain ration. The following table gives 
the digestible nutrients found in 100 pounds of each of these 
and a few other articles: 
PERCEMTAGE DIGESTIBLE MATTER IK AMERICAN FEEDING STUFFS. 



choice of 



FEEDING STUFF. 


Crude 
Protein. 


Carbohy- 
drates. 


Ether 
Extract. 




Per Cent. 


Per Cent. 


Per Cent. 


Red Clover Hay 


6.5 
7.6 
8.1 
1.4 

9^3 
8.3 
9.1 
1Z.6 
12.2 
36.9 
27.2 
59.1 
68.4 
3.1 


34.9 

37.8 
37.3 
16.1 
62.7 
55.8 
65.5 
44.7 
44.1 
47.2 
18.1 
31.8 

0.0 - 

0.3 

4.7 


1.6 


Alfalfa Hay 


1.3 




1.7 


Potatoes . 


0.0 




4.2 


Wheat (average) 

Rye 


1.8 
1.2 




4.1 




2.9 


Middlings 


2.9 


Cottonseed Meal 


12.3 




2.7 


Dried Blood 


2.3 


Meat Scraps 

Skim Milk 


13.5 
0.8 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



67 



For convenience we will mix 250 pounds of soft food at 
a time, selecting as an experimental ration 100 pounds bran, 
50 pounds corn meal, 30 pounds ground oats, 25 pounds cot- 
tonseed meal, 25 pounds beef and blood meal (assuming the 
latter to be composed of equal parts of blood and meat 
scraps). These quantities, by reference to the foregoing 
table, are seen to contain the following amounts of digesti- 
ble nutrients: Protein, 45.34 pounds; carbohydrates, 101.90 
pounds; ether extract of fat. 11.51 pounds. The nutritive 
ratio we find is 1:2.8, .while the German standard for a milch 
cow is 1:3.4. Therefore, to balance the ratio we mu.^t select 
some material rich in carbohydrates and fat. 
In selecting clover hay, we secure a high 
percentage of carbohydrates and at the 
same time by properly preparing and mix- 
ing the clover with the morning mash we are 
able to furnish what closely approximates 
green food, r'ifty pounds of red clover hay, 
added to our ration, raises the nutritive ra- 
tion to about 1:3.00. 

When skim milk is at hand, a very prof- 
itable use can be made of it by mixing the 
soft food with it. A quart of skim milk 
weighs about two and a half pounds. By add- 
ing in the feeding period an aggregate of one 
hundred pounds of milk we make it very pal- 
atable but lower the nutritive ratio to 1:2.76. ^^^ 
This we will accept for our morning mash, 
feeding what each fowl will clean up quickly. For our whole 
grain ration, we may select corn, wheat or rye, as they are all 
relatively I'ich in nitrogenous materials and will help bal- 



ance the ration. We will select corn to scatter in the litter 
in the evening. If we use two hundred pounds in connec- 
tion with the two hundred and fifty pounds of soft feed, our 
nutritive ratio will stand 1:4.3— still somewhat narrower 
than the standard, but very practicable. 

The relative amount of grain and soft food used varies 
with different individuals, some using more and others less. 
The nutritive ratio, however, should conform more closely 
to the standard than the average ration does if best results 
are desired. The experimental ration outlined above is not 
ir tended as a criterion, but simply to show how the differ- 




ent factors are obtained. Theoretically it would be better 
for the growing chick than the laying hen. 

JAMES R. COVERT. 



EGG PRODUCTION INFLUENCED BY FOOD. 



An Experiment on the Feeding of Corn and Wheat; Cut Green Bone and Animal Meal— Vege- 
table Versus Animal Foods— The Use of Condition Powders, 



By WILLIAM P. BROOKS, Professor of Agriculture of the Hatch Experiment Station. 



T IS the purpose of this article to bring to the at- 
tention of the public the results of several ex- 
periments carried out under my direction at the 
Hatch experiment Station during the past five 
years, which it is believed are worth the con- 
sideration of all who keep fowls for eggs. These experi- 
ments have been directed to the elucidation of but a few of 
the many questions which present themselves to every in- 
telligent person who cares for hens, and this article, which 
will be based upon the results of our own work, makes no 
pretense to being a comprehensive paper upon the subject. 

The questions which we have attempted to throw light 
upon have been the following: 

1. The relative value of vegetable as compared with 
animal foods as sources of the albuminoids (nitrogenous or 
flesh forming part) of food. 

2. A comparison of dried animal or flesh meal with 
fresh cut bone as foods for laying hens. 

S. The value of condition powders as an ingredient in 
the food of hens. 

4. The relative value of dried clover rowen and fresh 
cabbage as winter feeds. 



5. The influence of the presence of a cock with hens 
upon egg production. 

6. A comparison of a less with a more nitrogenous ra- 
tion (in effect a study of the relative value of a mixture of 
feeds containing a large amount of com and corn meal with 
one containing wheat, wheat shorts, and gluten meals in 
large quantity). 

An earnest effort has been made in planning and carry- 
ing out these experiments to eliminate all disturbing influ- 
ences — to insure, in short, in every instance perfect fair- 
ness, perfect equality in all conditions other than the one 
variation in feed or treatment Which constituted the subject 
of experiment. It is to be feared that in many of the pri- 
vate experiments which have been carried out such equality 
in conditions has not always been secured. The one feed 
or treatment is tried during one part of the year— another 
during some other period — or perhaps even, one method of 
feeding has been the subject of experiment one year; an- 
other method some later year. It must be evident that under 
these conditions results cannot fairly be compared. Every 
variation, save the one under trial, must be eliminated if 
results are to have much value. 



68 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



Attemion is called to this matter — not as a reproach to 
the practical man; he is rather entitled to all honor for the 
many valuable discoveries he has made. Under the condi- 
tions under which he works, under the urgent necessity 
usually existing to make his business financially successful, 
it is rather to be wondered that his experiments have been 
even so well carried out as has been the case. No! not then, 
in criticism of the practical man, but rather to explain why 
it is that exact knowledge is still wanting upon many ques- 
tions of great importance is attention called to the matter. 

In what measure we have secured suitable conditions 
for just comparisons in our experiments will be apparent 
from the brief statement which follows: 

1. Houses — In every instance where two pens of fowls 
have been compared they have occupied separate detached 
houses precisely similar in every dimension and detail of 
construction and with the same aspect and exposure. Each 
house has two rooms, a roosting and laying room, 10x12 feet, 
and a scratching shed SxlO feet in size. The former has two 
windows of the ordinary size; the latter is open to the south 
in ail but the most extremely cold or stormy weather. It 
may be closed by folding doors, each with glass windows. 
In this shed is scattered eight or ten inches of cut straw. 
With each house is connected a yard containing 1,200 square 
feet and of this the fowls have always had free run. 

2. Care and Cleanliness — The utmost regularity in 
care and feeding has always been observed in every particu- 
lar; droppings have always been promptly removed and 
suitable measures taken to keep down vermin. , 

o. The Fowls— In every experiment the fowls in the 
two coops under comparison have been of the same breed 
and age; and of the same origin and past treatment in each 
coop. In preparing for experiments we first place all the 
fowls together, then take at random one for the first coop, 
next a fowl as nearly like the first in every particular as can 
be found in the lot for the second coop; and so on to the 
end. In other words, the fowls are matched in pairs as 
closely as possible and one of each pair goes into each of the 
two pens which are to be compared. In most cases we have 
raised our own experiment stock: but in some instances we 
have purchased it. We have used fowls of the following 
breeds; Light Brahma, Barred Plymouth Rock, White 
Wyandotte and Black Minorca. We have not attempted a 
comparison of breeds. 

i. Feeding — Our custom has been to feed a warm mash 
early in the morning; to scatter some whole grain in the 
straw of the scratching shed at noon, and to give more 
whole grain also in the straw of the shed about an hour be- 
fore sunset. The aim has been to give all that the fowls 
would eat with a relish; but to make them work for the 
whole grain. The quantities fed have been determined by 
the judgment of the feeder: but an exact account of kinds 
and amounts of feeds has been kept and these feeds have 
been subjected to analysis. They have been sound and of 
good average quality. Artificial grit, shells and pure water 
have been kept always at hand. 

Albuminoids— Veg:etable Versus Animal. 

The opinion is ordinarily held that in order to procure 
a satisfactory egg yield hens must be given some animal 
food, and this is stated to be necessary in order that the 
ration may be sufficiently nitrogenous. ■ There are vege- 
table substances now available, however, which are so rich 
in albuminoids that a ration nitrogenous enough to meet 
all requirements can be made up by their use. 

Among these the soy bean in the one case and cotton 
seed and linseed meals in the other were selected for com- 



parison with meat meal in the two experiments which we 
carried out upon this question in 1895. 

The soy bean was ground into a fine meal, which is even 
richer than the ordinary meat meals, as is shown by the 
table: 

Soy bean meal, moisture 11.61 per cent 

Meat meal, moisture 13.68 per cent 

Composition of Dry Matter, Soy Bean Meal and Meat Meal. 

.\Ibumiiiojds. Fat. C.'ubohydrates. 

Soy bean meal, per cent... 34.37 16.38 45.22 

Meat meal, per cent 35.98 8.31 0.00 

In both experiments the fowls received a variety of 
other foods, but the nutritive ratio was kept substantially 
the same for the two coops under comparison. The foods 
used in the first experiment in addition to the Soy bean 
meal were cut alfalfa, wheat, oats, and middlings in the 
one coop: in the other, boiled potatoes, ground clover, 
wheat, wheat middlings and cut bone. 

In the second experiment the supplementary feeds were 
wheat, oats, bran find middlings for the vegetable coop and 
wheat, oats, wheat meal, bran and linseed meal for the ani- 
mal food coop. 

The number of fowls in a coop was twenty. The first 
experiment lasted sixty-four days, December 9th to Febru- 
ary 12th. The other one hundred and fifty-three days, Jan- 
uary 1st to October 31st. The results were decidedly favor- 
able to the animal food. The egg yields, however, were 
small in both cases. 

Animal Meal Versus Cut Bone. 

We hare now carried through five experiments compar- 
ing the dry flesh meal with fresh cut bone. At the outset 
our practice was to give the bone by itself. This practice 
we soon gave up as it was found that the amount of bone 
eaten by the different fowls was very uneven and not infre- 
quently individuals obtained sufficient to purge them seri- 
ously. In all these experiments we have used a variety of 
foods and have endeavored to keep the nutritive ratio sub- 
stantially the same in the two coops under comparison. 

Two of our experiments have given results slightly 
favorable to the bone in number of eggs; one a result 
slightly favorable to animal meal; and two. the two last, 
which have been most carefully carried out, have given re- 
sults most decisively favorable to the animal meal. The ' 
latter has invariably been found the safer food even when 
the bone is fed in the mash. Some fowls invariably scratch 
and obtain more than their share. Such fowls suffer from 
diarrhoea, which sometimes proves fatal, and always, of 
course, lessens the egg production for the time being. 

To give a clearer idea of the method of experiment de- 
tails concerning the last one will be given. 

This experiment continued from December 12th. 1S97, to 
April 30, 1S9S. There were nineteen Barred Plymouth 
Rock pullets in each house when the experiment began. 
Those in the flesh meal house weighed 101.5 pounds and had 
laid. November 8th to December 12th, eighty-two eggs. The 
pullets in the cut bone house weighed 101.25 pounds and had 
laid forty-one eggs. In the morning mash of one lot one 
part of animal meal to five parts total dry material was 
used. In the mash of the oth,er lot the same proportion of 
fresh cut bones was mixed. The large, flat bones, compar- 
atively free from meat or fat were used. In the animal 
meal coop the health of the fowls was good, but one fowl 
being out of condition in any way. The nature of the trou- 
ble was unknown. The fowl was killed. 

Almost from the lirst bowel troubles were 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



69 



the cut bone coop. Two fowls died, December 23d and Jan- 
uary 11th. One hen met with an accident and was killed. 

The hens in the animal meal coop laid three soft shelled 
eggs; the others two. 

The bone fed amounted to only .27 ounces per hen daily; 
.5 ounces and over is usually recommended by writers upon 
the subject. We find it impossible to feed so largely without 
serious bowel trouble. 

The tables will give a clear understanding of the experi- 
ment and its results. 

Foods Consumed. 

Pen 1. Pen 2. 

Kind of Food. Animal Meal. Cut Bone. 

Wheat 236 262 

Oats 143 145 

Bran 44 8 39 

Wheat middlings 44 8 39 

Gluten feed 44 8 

Gluten meal 39 

Animal meal 44 8 

Cut bone 40 

Clover rowen 44 S 39 

Cabbage 19 3 18 8 

Average Weights of the Fowls (Pounds). 

Dates. Animal Meal. Cut Bone. 

December 12 5.34 5.38 

January 31 5.64 5.66 

February 25 5.66 5.88 

March 30 5.09 5.27 

April 30 5.06 5.53 

Eggs Per Month (Number). 

Months. Animal Mtal. Cut Bone. 

December 63 57 

January 92 83 

February 184 120 

March 263 259 

April 210 209 

Total 812 728 

Animal Meal vs. Cut Bone for Egg Production. 

Animal Meal. Cut Bone. 

Total number of eggs 812 738 

Hen days 2,561 2,331 

Gross cost of foods f8.45 $8.29 

Cost per egg $0.0104 $0.0114 

Cost per hen day $0.0033 $0.0035 

Total weight of eggs (pounds) 100.5 88.7 

Average weight per egg (ounce) 1.98 1.95 

Eggs per hen day 32 .31 

Dry matter consumed per hen day (lbs) .22 .23 

Dry matter to produce one egg (lbs) 695 .739 

Nutritive ratio 1:4.6 1:4.7 

Sitters 22 13 

It will be noticed that the fowls receiving animal meal 
laid many more eggs of greater average weight than those 
receiving the bone. The cost per egg for food was consid- 
erably less. The animal meal is, moreover, a more conven- 
ient feed to use as well as safer. The fowls at the close of 
Che experiment weighed less, it is true, where animal meal 
had been the food, but the slight loss in weight is far more 
than covered by the greater value of the egg product. 

A test of the eggs, both raw and boiled, was made by 
an expert, who pronounced the animal eggs somewhat 
inferior in color and flavor to the others. 

The experiment carried out during the previous winter 
gave results even more decisive in faVor of the animal meal. 



.is a result then of a most painstaking and long contin- 
ued inquiry upon this subject I am convinced that the dry, 
fino animal or flesh meals, if sweet and of good quality, are 
much to be preferred as a source of animal food to fresh cut 
bone. 

Condition Powders. 

There seems to be a quite widespread opinion that some- 
thing hot. something of the nature of a condiment, mixed 
with the mash given to laying fowls is useful. This idea 
receives encouragement also from some of the most promi- 
nent poultry paper.5 and writers. An honest desire to know 
whether such condiments are needed or useful led to the 
investigations the results of which are here given. 

Three experiments have been carried out. We have 
used in all one of the most generally advertised and recom- 
mended of the various condition powders. These powders 
have been used in accordance with the directions sent out 
by their makers. The difference in number of eggs with 
and without the powder has in every case been small. In 
one experiment a few more eggs were laid by fowls receiving 
the condition powder; in two experiments those not receiv- 
ing the powder laid more eggs. 

In the last experiment twenty Barred Plymouth Rock 
pullets were used in each coop. The experiment continued 
from December 12th to April 30th. The fowls in both coops 
received a variety of foods, including wheat, oats, bran, mid- 
dlings, gluten feed, animal meal, cut clover and cabbage, 
both kinds and amounts being practically the same as in 
the experiment comparing animal meal with cut bone. 

The leading results of the experiments are shown by 
the tables: 

Eggs Per Month (Number). 

Condition No Condition 

Powder, Powder. 

December 28 59 

January.... 90 66 

February 86 101 

March 217 288 

.\pril 298 291 

Totals 719 745 

Condition Powder for Egg Production. 
(December 12 to April 30.) 

condition No Condition 

Powder. Powder. 

Hen day 2,751 2,656 

Gross cost of food $8.91 $8.59 

Cost per hen day $0.0032 $0.0032 

Total number of eggs 719 745 

Cost per egg, not including powder $0.0124 $0.0115 

Cost per egg, including powder $0.0180 $0.0115 

Eggs per hen day 26 .28 

Total weight of eggs (pounds) 88.08 90.80 

.Average weight of eggs (ounces) 1.96 1.95 

Dry matter to produce one egg (lbs)... .82 .77 

Dry matter consumed per hen day (lbs) .22 .22 

Nutritive ratio 1:4.6 1:4.6 

Sitters 8 14 

There was no noticeable difference in the health and 
condition of the fowls in the two coops during any part of 
the experiment. Eggs from both lots of fowls were tested 
under numbers by two families. One reports no difference 
in quality. The other found the eggs from the ones not 
receiving condition powders "much preferable" to the 
others. 

As a result of our experiments I conclude that the use 
of condition powders is not beneficial. The differences have 
never been sufficiently great to be significant. In two cases 



70 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



the hens not getting the powder have produced more; in 
one case the others have produced a few more. In the light 
of these results it is believed that poultry keepers throw 
away money expended for condition powders. 

Influence of Male Bird. 

Certain experiments which have been carried on at some 
of our Experiment Stations have given results indicating 
that hens will lay more eggs when kept by themselves than 
they will if a male is kept with them. Should the effect 
of a male be found to be an invariable decrease in the num- 
ber of eggs the fact would be of considerable importance as 
affecting the economy of the production of eggs for market. 
It was accordingly deemed advisable to try this experiment. 
Accordingly four coops of fowls (sixteen in each) were 
selected and cocks placed in two of them. The experiment 
continued from May 13th to September 3nd. As will be seen 
there were really two experiments. The results indicate 
that the cock was apparently without influence upon the 
number of eggs. In one pair of coops the fowls with the 
cock laid 631 eggs; those without a cock, 630 eggs. In the 
other pair of coops the numbers were respectively 629 and 
526 Exact comparison is possible, however, only when we 
ascertain the product per hen day. This is found to be for 
the first experiment .35 eggs for the hens with a cock, and 
.36 for those without. In the second experiment it is found 
to bo .38 for the heus with the cock and .33 for those with- 
out. 

It will be noticed that in the one case the hens with 
which the cock was kept make the best record, while in the 
other case those kept without a cock make the best record. 
The differences are small and since they are in the one case 
on the one side, and in the other case on the other, the con- 
clusion appears inevitable that the male was without in- 
fluence on the number of eg:gs produced. 

Wheat Versus Corn. 

It will be understood that by a narrow ration we mean 
one In which the proportion of albuminoids or nitrogenous 
constituents of the food is large as compared with the 
proportion of starch and tat, and that the term wide ration 
signifies that the proportion of nitrogenous constituents is 
small. Writers upon the subject of tee.ding for eggs with 
practical unanimity ^idvise the use of foods rich in nitro- 
genous constituents. They advise the "narrow" ration. 

Corn, among all the grains, is relatively the least nitro- 
genous. It is rich in starch and fat and comparatively low 
in albuminoids (nitrogenous constituents). Wheat is rela- 
tively rich in albuminoids. Writers upon the subject of 
feeding for eggs have apparently based their conclusions 
largely upon the fact that the egg is very rich in the nitro- 
genous constituents. They have reasoned that since this is 
the case the hens should receive very nitrogenous food, and. 
accordingly, since wheat is more nitrogenous than corn, 
they have almost without exception cautioned against the 
use of much corn and strongly advised feeding wheat largely 
to laying hens. The practice so common among many farm- 
ers of throwing corn freely to hens has been continuously 
held up as an example of "How not to do it." It was the 
writer's belief before undertaking the experiments of the 
past two years that this advice was sound, and he believed 
that by the experiments which are to be described he should 
illustrate the folly of a liberal use of corn. 

With this idea in view the experiments were carried out 
with every precaution necessary to insure reliable results. 
Six experiments have now been carried through. One was 
carried out in the winter of 1897 and 1898 (December 12 to 



April 30); another during the summer of 1898 iMay 1st to 
October 4th). These experiments wfl|e conducted with 
Barred Plymouth Rock pullets beginning with nineteen in 
each coop. Those on the narrow, or wheat, ration weighing 
101.75 pounds; those on the wide, or corn, ration weighing 
102.5 pounds at the beginning of the experiment. During 
the winter of 1898 and 1899 we carried out two experiments 
— one with Barred Plymouth Rocks, the other with White 
Wyandottes. The same fowls were also used for summer 
experiments. 

During the experiments of the first year, the fowls 
receiving the so-called wide ration were still given some 
whole wheat; during the experiments of the past year, no 
wheat has been used. The results during the past year 
have been quite as favorable to the wide ration (corn en- 
tirely replacing wheat) as were those of the first year in 
every single particular. The details for the past year are 
not, however, yet worked up and they cannot be published 
at this time. The tables herewith will suffice to give clear 
ideas of the manner of feeding and of the results: 

Foods Consumed^Narrow Vs. Wide Ration. 

(December 12 to April 30.) 

Narrow Ration. Wide Ration. 

Kind of Food. Pounds. Ounces. Pounds. Ounces, 

Wheat 257 126 

Bran 147 63 

Bran 43 3;* 

Middlings 43 

Gluten feed 43 

Animal meal 43 S::- 

Clover 44 39 

Corn meal . lOS 

Corn . 136 

Cabbage 18 5 16 5 

Average Weight of Fowls (Pounds). 

Dates. Narrow Ration, Wide Ration, 

December 12 5.36 5.39 

January 31 5.41 5.84 

February 25 4.45 5.80 

March 30 5.16 5.57 

April 30 5.17 5.31 ' 

Number of Eggs Per Month. 

Months. Narrow Ration, Wide Ration, 

December 12 to 31 94 89 

January 99 148 

February 147 258 ' 

March 310 317 

April 210 259 

Totals 860 1,071 

Narrow Vs. Wide Ration for Egg Production. 

(Winter Test.) 

Narrow Ration, V. i le Ration. 

Number of sitters 30 2,538 

Hen day 2,529 S6.56 

Cxross cost of foods $8.54 $0.0026 

Cost per hen day $0.0033 1,071 

Total number of eggs 860 $0.0061 

Cost per egg .$0,0099 .42 

Eggs per hen day 3! 130.53 

Total weight of eggs (pounds) 102.42." 1.95 

Average weight of eggs (ounces) 1.9< .46 

Dry matter to produce one egg (lbs) . . .65-5 

Dry matter consumed per hen day .19 

(pounds) 22 1:5.6 

Nutritive ratio 1:4.7 24 



EGGS AXD EGG FARMl: 



71 



' Foods Consumed — Narrow Vs. Wide Bation. 

(May 1 to October 4.) 

Narrow Ration. Wide R.ltion. 
Kinds of Food. Pounds. Pound.s. 

Wheat 276 131% 

Oats 97 43 

Bran 43 40 

Middlings 43 

Animal meal 43 40 

Corn meal 106% 

Corn 217% 

Gluten feed 43 16 

Average Weight of the Fowls (Pounds). 

Dates. Narrow Ration. Wide Ration. 

April 30 5.17 5.31 

June 11.... 5.00 5.25 

July 16 5.47 5.22 

August 11 5.05 5.50 

Before killing 5,07 5.44 

Dressed *4.37 -4.81 

*0r 86 per cent. tOr SS per cent. 

Eggs Per Month (Number). 

Months. Narrow Ration. Wide Ration. 

May 216 292 

June 182 204 

July 157 210 

August 151 197 

September 139 174 

October 1 to 4 14 IS 

Totals 859 1.095 

Narrow Vs. Wide Bation for Egg Production. 
(Summer Test.) 

Hen days 2,355 2,512 

Gross cost .f7.5600 $0.6400 

Cost per hen day $0.0032 $0.0026 

Total number of eggs 859 1,095 

Cost per egg $0.0088 $0.0061 

Eggs per hen day 36 .44 

Total weight of eggs (pounds) 106.3 130 

Average weight of eggs (ounces) 1.98 1.90 

Dry matter to produce one egg (lbs).. .57 .48 

Dry matter consumed per hen day 

pounds 21 .21 

Sitters 67 60 

Before calling particular attention to the conclusions 
which it seems to me must be drawn from a study of these 
results it should be stated that it has been found necessary 
to exercise more judgment in feeding the ration containing 
corn and corn meal than in feeding that containing wheat. 
The fowls receiving the corn are more easily overfed, and on 
a tew occasions lost appetite for their feed for short periods. 
The health of the fowls of both rations was uniformly good 
throughout both the winter and the summer tests with one 
single e.xception^ — the loss of one fowl from the effects of 
indigestion on the wide ration. 

Substance of Experiments. 

The conclusions to be drawn from these experiments are 
presented in the words used by the author in the Eleventh 
Annual Report of the Hatch Experiment Station: 

1. The hens on the wide (rich in corn) ration laid 
many more eggs in both the winter and the summer experi- 
ments than those on the narrower ration. 

2. The difference in favor of the wide ration amounts 
to 2o per cent in the winter trial, and to 33% per cent in the 
summer trial, upon the basis of equal number of hen days. 



3. The total cost of feeds was less for the wide ration, 
and of course the cost per egg was much less. In the pro- 
duction of one hundred dozen eggs the saving on the basis 
of our winter test would amount to $4.56; on the basis of 
the summer test, to $3.24. 

4. In the average weight of the eggs produced there is 
a small difference in favor of the narrow ration, but in qual- 
ity the weight of family evidence shows the eggs produced 
by the corn-fed hens to have been somewhat superior. They 
were deeper yellow and of a milder flavor than the eggs 
from the narrower ration. 

5. The fowls on the wide ration gained somewhat in 
weight and were heavier at the close of the experiment than 
the others, notwithstanding the much larger number of eggs 
laid. 

At the close of the experiment the fowls were closely 
judged as to the condition of the plumage while still living, 
and it was decided that the corn-fed hens were farther ad- 
vanced in molting than the others. The fowls were slaught- 
ered and the judgment of the men removing the feathers 
coincided with judgment on the living fowls. The aver- 
ages before and .after dressing were as follows: Narrow- 
ration fowls, 5.07 pounds; dressed weight, 4.37 pounds; 
wide-ration fowls, 5.44 pounds; dressed weight, 4.81 pounds. 
The narrow-ration fowls gave 86 per cent dressed weight; 
the others, 88 per cent. The dressed fowls were judged by 
a market expert, who pronounced the corn-fed fowls slightly 
superior to the others. 

In view of the fact that the experiments of the past 
year with two breeds (White Wyandottes and Barred Ply- 
mouth Rocks), in which corn entirely replaced wheat in the 
whole grain ration, have given results agreeing in every 
particular with those described in full. I believe we must 
conclude that wheat has been much overestimated and corn 
greatly undervalued as food for laying fowls. That the 
corn should be found superior to wheat in winter is much 
less surprising than that it should hold its superiority in 
summer as well; and that the fowls getting it should molt 
so much earlier and better than those getting wheat. 

Calculation based upon the average number of hens in 
the two pens in 1897 and 1898 shows that the number of eggs 
per hen for the wheat fed fowls was 105.1 in 297 days (De- 
cember 12th to October 4th) ; for the corn fed hens it was 
127.9 eggs. In spite of this much larger product the corn 
fed hens dressed about one-half pound more per head than 
the others. The significance of these results, supported as 
they are by the more extensive tests of another year, is 
apparent. Our poultry keepers are paying high prices for 
wheat, when corn, which can be purchased for about one- 
half the price of that grain, appears to be better. The 
aggregate possible saving by substituting corn is enormous. 
Let me, however, express my conviction that such substitu- 
tion would be attended with unsatisfactory results unle.<^s 
the conditions observed by us shall be secured. The fowls 
must be made to scratch for all their whole grain, and care 
must be taken not to overfeed. 

Let me further suggest that nature is generally a safe 
guide. "Biddy," kept healthy and vigorous, will take corn 
always in preference to wheat. Man conceived the idea 
that wheat is better for large egg production. He has been 
endeavoring to convince the hen that she doesn't know 
what is good for her; and now it seems that after all her 
instinct, and not his supposedly scientific reasoning, has 
been right. 

What then are the hints on feeding that I would base on 
our experiments? Brieriy, they are these: 

1. Some animal food is essential to satisfactory egg 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



production. Vegetable foods, even equally rich in the nitro- 
genous and fatty ingredients, are much interior. 

2. The dried animal or flesh meals made a part of the 
morning mash are safer and better animal food than cut 
bone; and they cost less and are more convenient in use. 
The proper proportion appears to be about one part by 
weight of the animal meal to five parts of the other dry 
materials used in the mash. 

3. Condition powders (and presumably other condi- 



ments, such as common and cayenne peppers) are useless 
and money spent for them is throwu^way. 

4. Fresh cabbage is more valuable as a food for egg- 
production than clover rowen; but the eggs, while richer, 
are inferior in flavor. 

5. Corn and corn meal may with advantage safely be 
used much more largely than is generally advised, whether 
in winter or summer: but the fowls must be forced to exer- 
cise. • WILLIAM P. BROOKS. 



hav 



[XOTE.— To iiiteUiifent pouUryiuen these test;; afford iuformati 
invariably correct. For two reasons this test does not prove, as the conclusions lead us to infer, that a wide ration is superior to a nar 
;, because neither ration can be properly called wide; Second, because the test was not conducted under such conditions as would decide 

' We call attention to this particular experiment in the Reliabl'. Poultry Journal in an article entitled "Poultry 

" " ' ' '" ■ either a wide or narrow 



"In feeding- poultry, experune 



: been conducted hav 



: conclusively shown I 



the other 



One experii 



: assumes that the wide 
receiving a ratio of 1;4.7. The former was styled a 
and consider it a medium ration, it seems to us tha 
conclusion then would be that a narrow ration (1:4 



and Feeding," as follows: 
. has any advantage over 
i.6 laid better than those 



superior because fowls which were fed in the proportion of : 
wide ration, and the latter narrow. As competent authorities place the governing standard at 1:6.8 
t neither 1:5.6 nor 1:4.7 should be termed wide. We prefer to consider that both are narrow. The 
7) did not give such good results as one less narrow (1:5.6). There was nothing to show that a con- 



tinued widening would prove proportionately 
were fed a greater variety than were those re. 



fantageous." In addition to this point it is clear that the fowls supposed to have received a wide ration 
iug the narrow ration. Variety of food goes a long way. towards producing eggs, and this we claim is 
the reason that the fowls so fed gave better results." As a test between corn and wheat this experiment is of no value, for the so-called corn-led fowls 
also received half as much wheat as did the wheat-fed fowls. If this wheat had been omitted we have good reason to believe that results would have 
favored the wheat-fed fowls. This is said to have been tested in a subsequent year, but we have not had a report of the conditions of the new test and 
prefer to abide by our opinion until we are satisfied that said conditions were appropriate.— Editor.] 



PULLETS VS. HENS AS LAYERS. 



A Report of Experiments Showing the Value of Exercise for Fowls; the Relative Value of Hens 

and Pullets for Egg Production; the Yearly Cost of Food; the Food Cost per Dozen 

of Eggs, and the Relative Fertility of Eggs Under Different Treatment. 



By MR. JAMES DRYDEN, Superintendent of the Utah Experiment Farm. 



FIRST YEAR. 

FROM JIR. DRVDEX'S RKI'ORT. 

In November, 1896, experiments in egg production were 
begun at the station. They were designed to show; 

1. The relative value of old hens and pullets. 

2. The effect of exercise. 

3. The relative value of early and late hatched pullets. 
4: The effect of crossing. 

5. The relative merit of the differect breeds. 

6. The yearly food cost per hen. 

7. The average yearly production of eggs per hen. 

8. The food cost per dozen of eggs. 

9. The relative weight of eggs from different breeds. 

10. The relative fertility of eggs under different treat- 
ments. 

11. The relative fertility of 'fresh and old eggs. 

Four fowls were placed in each pen, except Pen 9, which 
had five. The pens were numbered from 1 to 9. The follow- 
ing outline shows the arrangement: 



1. Old hens 

2. Late hatched pullets 

3. Early hatched pullets ^^^^ ^,^^,,, ^^^^^^ Leghorns, 

WITH EXERCISE. ( 

4. Early hatched puUets 

5. Old hens I 

■6. Late hatched pullets J 

1. Brahma-Leghorn cross pullets. 

H. Light Brahma Pullets. 

•a. Barred Plymouth Rock pullets. 

Pens 1 and 5, 2 and 6, 3 and 4, were duplicates, the only 
difference being in che matter of treatment. Pens 1. 2 and 3 



were given grain food in boxes; 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 in a litter 
of straw on the floor. All pens were fed alike in regard to 
variety of food^ time of feeding, etc. Of certain foods, how- 
ever, each pen had all it would eat, and the amount eaten, 
of course, varied in individual pens. 

A comparison of the records of Pens 1 and 5 will show 
the effect of exercise on old hens. A comparison of 2 and 6 
will show the effect of exercise on late hatched pullets, 
and of Pens 3 and 4 on early hatched pullets. When the ex- 
periment began the "old hens" were 3 and 4 years old. The 
"early hatched" pullets were about seven months old; the 
late hatched pullets about five and one-half. Pens 3 and 4 
were from the same brood of chickens, and reared under the 
same conditions. Pens 2 and 6 were each from a later brocd 
of chickens, and reared under the same conditions. They 
were evenly divided when put into the pens, so that when the 
experiment began the duplicate pens were as nearly alike as 
it was possible to make them. It should also be stated that 
the Leghorns, Pens 1 to 6 inclusive, were all from the same 
poultry yards, so that the laying qualities of the different 
pens were more nearly equal than if they had been secured 
from different breeders. 

Exercise. 

The exercise consisted in making the fowls scratch for 
their grain food, which was fed in a litter of straw about 
six inches deep. This straw was renewed once a week in 
winter and twice in summer. The "without exercise" pens 
were fed in boxes, just as they are fed by some kindly dis- 
posed people who think it a cruelty to make a hen scratch 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



for lier food. The results will show whether or not such 
kindness is misplaced. The experiment will not show the 
absolute effect, however, of exercise, for it was not possible, 
nor was it thought desirable, to prevent the fowls in the 
non-exercised pens from taking any exercise whatever. The 
floors of the pens were the ground, and this offered an op- 
portunity for some exercise, and during the summer months 
there was also opportunity for exercise in the yards outside. 
To show the absolute effect of no exercise, it would be neces- 
sary to confine the fowls on a board floor, but the results of 
such an experiment would have no great practical value. 

The effect of the different methods of treatment on the 
fertility cf the eggs is of much importance. By numbering 
every egg with the date laid and the number of pens, and 
incubating them under similar conditions, some definite re- 
sults were hoped to be secured. In the same manner, the 
relative fertility of fresh eggs and of eggs two, three and 
four weeks old was to be determined as far as possible. 

Feeding. 

As already intimated, there was no feeding test em- 
braced in the experiment. All pens were fed alike, except 
in the matter of quantity. The foods consisted of a mash 
composed of two parts bran and shorts, and one part each 
of chopped corn and oats, which was fed in the morning; 
about 10 o'clock a little grain was fed; then grain again in 
the evening. The quantities and varieties of grain varied 
at difl;erent periods. Three times a week, except when our 
butcher failed us, cut bones and meat were fed. The green 
food consisted of cabbages, a head being constantly hung 
in each pen until about the 1st of March, after which, and 
until green grass could be secured, cut lucerne leaves were 
fed dry. This was scattered in the pens. During the sum- 
mer green grass was thrown into the pens. The grains fed 
were wheat, oats, corn and barley. Corn was fed sparingly, 
and barley was discarded after a few weeks' trial because it 
was not relished by the fowls; so that barley can be left out 
of account altogether. No prepared poultry foods or egg 
foods were fed. No stimulating foods of any kind were fed 
except occasionally a little cayenne pepper in the morning 
mash. Salt was also used in the mash. During the winter, 
coal ashes were kept before the fowls; also a little gravel. 
No oyster shells were fed until the middle of summer. 

From the beginning of April to the end of the experi- 
ment the green food was not weighed. It consisted of green 
lucerne and clover, principally lucerne. The yards outside 
were seeded to lucerne and clover, and this furnished green 
food for a few weeks. It was soon eaten off, and thereafter 
the green stuff was cut outside and thrown into the pens. 
The fowls appeared to relish the green clover more than the 
lucerne, the former being eaten down in the yards before the 
latter. Lucerne, however, is an excellent green food, and is 
highly nitrogenous, the kind of food to make eggs. It grows 
more rapidly than clover in this country, and the same area 
of lacerne will furnish more food than of clover. 

The idea kept uppermost in mind in feeding was to so 
feed as to induce the largest possible consumption of food 
of the right kind. The theory that the more food an animal 
will eat and assimilate, the greater will be the product, has 
been proved to be correct in the feeding of other kinds of 
live stock. A cow, for instance, requires a certain amount 
of food to maintain existence, and the first use to which 
food is put is to supply the requirements of the body, and 
anything beyond that amount which a cow can be induced 
to eat will go to the production of milk, if she is of a good 
dairy type. 

A steer requires a certain amount to maintain life. Any- 



thing beyond that amount will go to make beef. So it is in 
feeding for eggs. The hen must be liberally fed; she must 
consume more than is merely necessary to support life in 
order to furnish eggs. But one great danger in liberally 
feeding the hen is that instead of the surplus above main- 
tenance going to the production of eggs, it is very apt to go 
to the production of fat; at any rate, that is the theory cf 
poultrymen. To guard against this result, the question of 
exercise for the hen has come to be looked upon by success- 
ful poultrsTnen as of vital importance. "Make the hen ex- 
ercise," they say. "and instead of getting a fat hen you will 
get a fat egg basket." To collect some data in regard to 
this question was the purpose of the experiment on exercise. 

The amount of the different foods consumed during the 
year and the cost of the same, are given in table No. 2. The 
weights represent the average consumption of food per fowl 
for each pen. A male was in each pen about a third of the 
year, and the total food consumed was divided by 4 1-3, to 
get the average per fowl. The cost of the different foods was 
as follows: Bran mash, 5-14 cents per pound; wheat, 70 
cents per bushel; bones, % cent per pound; oats, 70 cents per 
cwt.; barley, 70 cents per cwt.; corn, 75 cents per cwt.; cab- 
bage, V2 cent per pound. The price charged for the wheat 
was more than it has been at the Station farm for several 
years, and this, of course, considerably increased the cost 
of the ration and the food cost of the eggs produced. It 
will be noticed that wheat constituted the principal item 
of the ration. The Leghorns consumed nearly half a bushel 
per fowl during the year. Pen S of Brahmas consuming 36 
pounds per fowl, which was more than any other pen in the 
trial. Bones, which were a mixture of meat and bones 
from the butcher shop, were fed throughout the year. Ten 
and a half pounds were fed to the Leghorns, or an average 
of about 31,4 ounces per week per fowl. This amount, how- 
ever, varied at different seasons, as will be seen by reference 
to table of weekly weights. The food was all carefully 
weighed each day. A Fairbanks scale was used, weighing 
to the sixteenth of an ounce. The weights should, therefore, 
be accurate enough for all practical purposes. Of course 
there is a possible error. Every grain cannot be saved, 
and every ounce of bones will not be eaten. 

At the prices given above, the cost of the food is figured 
up in the table. Pen 4 of Leghorns, which made the best 
egg record, consumed 62 cents worth of food per fowl during 
the year. The cost of feeding the Brahmas was about 30 
per cent more: the Brahma-Leghorn cross about 15 per cent 
more. 

Table No. 2. 

Weights of Food Per Fowl in Pounds, and Cost of the Same 
for the Year. 



1 




1 

10 

10 

10 
10 
10 


1 

35 

r, 

3> 

% 


10 

"Si 

10. 

12 

9 


6 
6 

f 

9 


§ 

11 
13 
14 

14 
14 

r 

18 


1 

1 
1 
1 

4 


5 

1 


1 

3 
4 

4 
4 
6 

7 

VA 


I 


2 

3 

S 
6 

8 
9 


.Vo Exercise. 

Old Hens 

Late Hatched Pullets 

Early Hatched Pullets 

Early Hatched Pullets 

OldHeus 

Late Hatched PuUets 

B.I,. Cross Pullets 

Light Brahma Pullets 


i 

61 }i 







As to the effect of exercise on the consumption of food, 
contradictory results were secured. With the early hatched 
pullets — pens 3 and 4 — there was practically no difference 



'.GGS AND EGG FARMS. 




KXPKRIMKXTS IN KGG PRODUCTION. 

The baskets of eggs represent the number produced per year 
by pullets, hens one year old, and old hens, beyond what were suf- 
ficient to pay for the food eaten, or they represent the relative per 
cent of profit on the cost of food. [See Conclusions by Editor— Page 
78.] 

Fig. 1, pullets; Fig. 2, hens one year old; Fig. 3, hens three and 






i old. 



in the amount consumed with or without exercise. But with 
the late hatched pullets — pens 2 and 6 — the exercise resulted 
in increasing the consumption of food about ten per cent. 
In comparing the two pens of old hens— 1 and 5— the results 
are more conclusive; the increased consumption, due appar- 
ently to exercise, amounted to about seventeen per cent. In 
one out of three cases, therefore, exercise apparently had 
no effect whatever on the consumption of food. In the other 
two cases, it produced an increase of about fifteen per cent. 
But the question of greatest importance is. Did the exercise 
induce a better use of the food? Did it aid in digestion? 
In other words, did the same amount of food with exercise 
produce a larger number of eggsV The next table will an- 
swer the question. 

The following table gives the yearly food cost per fowl, 
the number of eggs laid, the value of those eggs at market 
prices, the food cost per dozen of eggs, and the per cent 
profit on food: 

The table shows some very positive results. Pen 
4 is the ideal pen of the lot, or, rather, the only pen under 
the best conditions for egg production. They consumed, dur- 




ing the year, 62 cents worth of food each; they averaged 
181% eggs each, valued at $1.88 at market prices of eggs. 

Table No. 3 — Summary Per Individual Fowls. 



Pen. 




Cost 

of 
Food. 


No. of 


Value. 


Food 

Cost 

Per Doz. 


Per Cent 

Profit 
on Feed. 


2 

3 

4 


OldHens 

Late Hatched Pullets.. 
Early Hatched Pullets 

Early Hatched Pullets 


Cents. 
61 K 

63 

P 


157^ 

145 * 
147K 
79M 


1.68 

\^ 
1 51 


9.9 
4 6 
4.1 

in 

6.1 
6.6 


5 
135 

174 

203 


6 

7 
8 
9 


I,3te Hatched Pullets.. 
B.L.Cross Pullets ... 
Light Brahma Pullets 
B. P. Rock Pullets. .. 


124 
100 

72 
25 



which prices will be found at the bottom of table No. 5. 
The food cost per dozen of eggs was 4.1 cents, and the profit 
on food was 203 per cent. Pen 3 came second; their egg 
record was two dozen short of Pen 4; their value was 20 
cents less; the food cost per dozen was half a cent more> 
and the per cent profit was 174. This result may fairly be 
attributed to lack of exercise. There is less difference noted 
in the case of the late hatched pullets— Pens - and 6. The 
exercised pen laid more eggs, but at a greater cost for food, 
so that the profit on the food was more for the pen without 
exercise. The difference is so small, however, that no con- 
clusion should be drawn from the results. With Pens 1 and 
5 of old hens the results are more conclusive on the question 
of exercise. Pen 1 without exercise laid 64 eggs each, at a. 
food cost of 9:9 cents per dozen, while Pen >> with exercise 
laid 106% eggs each, at a food cost of 6.9 cents per dozen, 
the per cent profit on food being 5 in the one case and 61 
in the other. The cross-bred pen fell short in egg produc- 
tion of the pure-breeds on either side. They were very much 
behind the Leghorns, but the difference is very small com- 
pared with the Brahmas. They not only laid fewer eggs 
than the Leghorns, but the cost of feeding them was about 
20 per cent more. Though the Brahmas laid more eggs than 
the cross-breds, the eggs were worth less, owing to the fact 
that the latter matured earlier and laid more eggs when 
prices were hign. so that in the final test — the per cent profit 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



on food — the cross-breds came out ahead of the pure-bred 
Brahmas. In comparing Pen 4 with Pen 8, the interesting 
fact is brought out that the Leghorns, with 20 per cent less 
food cost, produced 24 per cent more eggs than the Brahmas, 
and when the per cent profit on food is considered, the re- 
sults are very decidedly in favor of the Leghorns. 

The greatest surprise in the breed experiment was Pen 
9 of Barred Plymouth Rocks. They were good stock, ma- 
tured earlier than the Brahmas, received the same treat- 
ment and care, but for some unaccountable reason their 
egg record was very poor. The result should not be laid 
to the breed. No definite conclusion can be formed from a 
breed test of one year, and with one strain of fowls. The 
breed test was only an incidental part of the experiments, 
but we hope to continue it, and in time something definite 
may be arrived at as to the real merits of the different 
breeds. The average weight of the Plymouth Rocks during 
the year was a trifie under six pounds. It is evident that 
the treatment which gave good results with the other breeds 
was not suited to this paricular breed or strain. One thing 
can probably be said of this particular pen, and that is, 
they require more delicate treatment than the others. As 
to whether this is characteristic of the breed, it will require 
further observation to determine. This explanation is made 
in justice to this popular American breed of fowls. 

Pullets vs. Old Hens. 

When it comes to comparison of the records of the old 
hens and the pullets there is no disputing the fact that what- 
ev(r other glories age may bring, it does not bring with it 
a profitable egg basket. A comparison of Pens 1 and 5 
with 2, 3, 4 and 6, will show that the profit from the young 
hens or pullets is about five times greater than that of the 
old hens. Not only did the old hens lay considerably fewer 
eggs, but the eggs were worth less per dozen. Those of the 
old hens averaged less than a cent apiece, while those of 
the pullets, with the exception of Pen 2, averaged more 
than a cent apiece. This is accounted for by the fact that 
the pullets laid a larger proportion of their eggs in early 
winter, when the price was good. As already stated, the 
old hens were three or four years old. In the experiment 
there were no two-year-olds. In the present season (1897-8) 
the two-year-olds are being tested. Pens 3 and 4 of the 
past year's experiment are being continued, so that at the 
end of the second year their records as pullets and as two- 
year-olds may be compared. 

[The second year's report has since been obtained and 
is printed herewith, under separate heading. — Ed.] 

The effect of exercise on foo J consumption is also illus- 
trated in table No. 3. The three pens having no exercise— 
1. 2 and 3 — averaged 120 eggs, while those from the exer- 
cised pens— 4. 5 and 6— averaged 146 eggs. The average food 
cost per dozen of eggs was, for the non-exercised pens, 6.5 
cent?, and 5.3 cents for the exercised pens, over 22 per cent 
in favor of exercise. This fact, when studied in connection 
with the other fact that there was no appreciable difference 
in the relative weights of the fowls during the year (see 
table No. 1), would seem to indicate that exercise such as 
was given is an aid to digestion; or, in other words, the 
exercised hen made a better use of the food. It took 22 per 
cent more food to make a dozen of eggs without the exercise 
than with it; in other words, 22 per cent of the food was 
wasted by the unexercised hen. It was not used in the 
growth of fiesh, for the weights showed that the exercised 
hen was as heavy as the non-exercised. It seems to be a 
mere question of digestion: the exercise aids digestion and 
assimilation and prevents a waste of food. 









Table No. 4r— Egg 


Record. 


















- 


















u 




i 


I 


1 


1 


1 


< 


1 


s 


^ 


1 


a 


1 


1 


"<l 


1 








fi 


« 


S4 


sq 


?7 


14 


?1 


^?. 




231 


54 










?8 


S7 




so 




h:-i 




H) 


?!; 


550 


137'i 




1S 


?4 


s,< 


W 


(i7 


HI) 


7S 


h4 


SI 


Wl 




X 


631 


157K 


4 


m 


?'> 




M 


Vh 


HH 


HI 


'M 


OS 






11 






5 








1<I 


^1 


74 


■if. 


hV 


SI 


41 


■sh 






106K 






< 


41 


« 


H 






71 


■;z 


hH 


s/. 


4,<* 


iM 


150K 


7 


1 


?.?. 






77 


71 


T? 


M 


.s.s 


M 


:fi 




5811 
















S2 






71 










147K 


9 




6 


l.S 


14 


-iU 


46 


sy 


SA 




J6 


» 


IS 


> m 


i'JK 



and 



Table No. 4 gives the monthly egg record for each pen 
during the year. It also gives the total number laid during 
the year. This shows that Pens 3, 4 and 7 were the only 
pens that laid eggs in November, 1896. The last to stop lay- 
ing at the end of the experiment was Pen 6, which was still 
laying when the experiment closed. The Brahmas, Pen 8, 
did not lay till January, and Pen 1 of old hens not till Feb- 
ruary. This pen, the last to begin, was the first to stop at 
the end of the year. The heaviest laying was in April and 
May. The record snows that the early hatched pullets be- 
gan laying fully two weeks earlier than the late hatched. 
Pens 3 and 4, together with Pen 7, had been laying some 
time before being put in the experiment, and this fact 
shculd be taken into consideration when making compari- 
sons between early and late hatched pens. No record had 
been kept of the number laid before the experiment began. 
Had these been counted, and had there been no break in 
the laying caused by the change of quarters, no doubt the 
record would have been 200 eggs for each pullet in Pen 4. 
This would have added much more to the profic. and reduced 
considerably the food cost per dozen of eggs. The pen cf 
Brahmas made a good record during the time they were in 
the business. During the ten months that they laid they 
made a better record than the cross-breds during the twelve 
months. The cross- oreds were broody longer than the pure- 
bred Brahmas, and tliis probably accounts for the smaller 
egg yield. 

It should be stated that the results of this experiment 
havo been accomplished with fowls kept in confinement. 
During the winter months, a period of between three and 
four months, they were not outside of the building. The 
four fowls had less than eight square feet of floor space in- 
side the building, and when the male was with them, still 
less. 

Table No. 5 shows the market value of the eggs laid 
each month by the several pens. The average monthly 
price of eggs is given at the bottom of the table. Taking 
Pen 4, the best month was August, when 85 cents worth of 
eggs were laid; eggs were then 12 cents per dozen. Jan- 
uary was the next best, when 81 cents was made, with 
eggs at 18 cents per dozen. 

Table No. 5. 
Value of Eggs in Cents. 



Peu. 

Price 

* of 

Eggs. 


'.25 
.32 

'.02 
.20 


1 

■.60 
.54 
.04 
.06 

Viz 

.25 


iso 

.81 

i 

.22 

.18 


•s 

.62 
.66 

.20 

if 
.52 
,15 

12Ji 


1 

:i 

.56 

:?i 

.61 
.64 
.62 
.25 

.10 


.45 
.66 
.67 
.73 
.61 
60 
.66 
.68 
.38 

.10 


1 

.50 
.66 
.63 
.76 
.61 
.61 
.60 
.60 
.50 

.10 


.23 

.56 
.53 
.65 

■.^ 
.48 
.53 
.32 

.10 


.12 
.52 
.48 

:^ 

.60 
.46 
.60 
.22 

.10 


.21 

.76 
.60 

.68 
.64 
.79 
.36 

.12 


i. 
-jj 

.14 
.70, 
.51 

.72 
.65 

il 

.79 
.14 


.42 
.47 

.72 
,20 
.10 
.30 

.20 ■ 


Total 
Value 

$2.03 
5.27 
5.72 
7.53 
4.00 

f;^ 

5.61 
3.17 



76 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



Table No. 6 shows the weight of food in ounces for Pen 
4 for the year, divided into thirteen periods of four weeks 
each. It shows the amount of each kind of food consumed 
during each of these four-week periods. It also gives the 
number of eggs laid during the same periods. This will 
show the relation of food consumed to the product in eggs. 

Table No. 6. 
Pen 4, Weight of Food in Ounces. 





i 


1 


54 
30 


i 
1 


i 


i 


1 

5 

61 
29 

79 


I 

A 

54 
68 
81 
84 


217 

207 
253 
274 
270 

304 

^l 

261 


1 

i 


Nov.9toDec.6 

Dec, 7toJan.3 


79 

62/8 

v.. 

45 
84 
84 

r 

81 


9^A 

127 

lf7 
161 
207 
205 
200 
167 
lOt 


11^ 

64 

72 
56 
78 
54 
51 
57 
64 
46 
39 


i 

60 
60 
77 
146 
131 
98 

95 


36 
66 

66 
76 
36 


22 

27 
50 


Mch. Ito 28 

Mch. 29 to Apr. 25... 
Apr. 26 to May 23.... 
May 24 to June 20. . . 
June 21 to July 18. .. 
July 19 to Aug. 15.... 
Aug. 16 to Sept 12.. 
Sept. 13 to Oct. 10. .. 
Oct. 11 to Nov. 7 


67 
83 








81 


ii' 






77 
44 

S 



* The weights of mash include water used in mixing it. 

From a study of table No. 3, it will be seen that the 
only correct answer to the question, "Is there money in 
hens?" is, it depends. It depends on the kind and amount 
of food consumed, the number of eggs laid and the price of 
eggs when laid. The statement that there is no money in 
hens would doubtless be true, if Pens 1 and 9 only were 
considered. A satisfactory answer, moreover, could not be 
obtained by taking the average of all the pens. To prove 
such a statement, it must be shown that there is no money 
in hens under the best possible method of treatment. The 
record made by Pen 4, tlie ideal pen of the lot, is the only 
one that should be consulted. We see that for 62 cents 
worth of food this pen produced eggs worth $1.88, a profit of 
$1.26 on an inveistment of 62 cents. Of course these results 
will vary as . the cost of food and the price of eggs vary. 
The money result can be figured out in any locality, know- 
ing the average of food consumption and the product in 
eggs. 

It may be stated that while Pen 4 was the ideal pen and 
made an excellent record, the record does not represent the 
limit of production. It was our first experiment. The quar- 
ters were new to the hens when placed in the experiment, 
and though Pens 3, 4 and 7 had been laying before, the 
change of quarters stopped them. On October 13 the pullets 
in Pen 4 laid their last egg, so that their egg-laying record 
was made in eleven months. They had been laying fully a 
month before being put into the experiment. Had the ex- 
periment begun a month earlier, and ended a month later, 
without interruption or change of quarters, the number of 
eggs laid by Pen 4 would doubtless have reached the 200-egg 
mark. 

To show the effect, if any, of the different treatments 
on the weight of the eggs, the eggs from each pen were 
weighf d for several weeks at the beginning of the experi- 
ment, and again during the month of April. From these 
weighings an average was found for the total yearly pro- 
duct. A comparison may also be made from these weights 
as to the size of egg laid by the different breeds represented 
in the trial. In the following table the weights are given 
in pounds for each pen. The pen numbers are given at the 
head of the table. The first column shows the average 



weight per dozen of eggs for each pen. The outline given 
elsewhere in this report will show fte kind of fowls in each 
pen and the treatment received by each. 

Table No. 7. 
Weights of Eggs in Pounds. 





Pen- No. 




1 


2 1 3 


4 


5 I 6 


7 




' 


Average weight 
per dozen 

Weight of eggs for 
year per fowl . . 


1.57 
8.4 


1.40 
15.98 

3.5 


1.49 
19.51 

3.1 


1.42 
21.46 

2.9 


1 
1.52 1 39 

13.54 17.42 
4.5 3.6 


152 
18,39 

40 


163 
20.03 

4.0 


1.4S 
9.8 


Cost per pound of 
eggs, cents 


6.3 


63 



It is worthy of note that the fowls without exercise laid 
heavier eggs than those with it. If Pens 1 and 5 old hens, 
and 2 and 6 late hatched pullets, and Pens 3 and 4 of early 
hatched pullets are compared, it is seen that the larger 
eggs were laid in each case by the pens without exercise. 
That would seem to be fairly conclusive. I call attention to 
this fact without assuming an explanation as to the phil- 
osophy of it. This column shows another rather striking 
fact: the eggs laid by the old hens averaged considerably 
heavier than those laid by the pullets. 

The second column shows the actual weight of eggs per 
fowl for the year figured from the average per dozen glvea 
in the column above. Pen 4 leads in weight, each of the 
four pullets in this pen averaging 21.46 pounds of eggs; and 
by the way, this seems pretty good work for a little "egg 
machine" weighing less than four pounds. The second pea 
in point of weight is Pen 8 of Brahma pullets. Though they 
laid a considerably smaller number of eggs, as will be, seen 
by reference to table No. 4, the total weight wa.s within 1% 
pounds of those laid by Pen 4 of Leghorns. Were eggs sold 
by weight instead of by the dozen, the difference in the 
money result from the two pens would be considerably les- 
sened. But, of course, in figuring on profit, the cost of food 
per dozen of eggs must be taken into account. A column 
has been added to table No. 7 showing food cost per pound 
of eggs for each pen. 

Conclusions. 

From the results of the experiments recorded, the fol- 
lowing conclusions seem warranted: 

1. There is little profit in keeping hens three and four 
years old at the market prices of food and eggs in Utah. 
The profit in feeding young hens, or pullets, was six times 
greater than in feeding old hens three and four years old. 
This conclusion does not apply to two-year-old hens and 
hens more than four years old. 

?.. Leghorn pullets hatched in April gave better results 
than those hatched late in May. The profit was about one 
and a half times greater from the April hatched than from 
the May hatched. 

3. The exercised pens, 4, 5 and 6, produced twenty-six 
eggs per fowl more than the pens without exercise — 1, 2 
and 3. 

4. The three exercised pens produced eggs at a food 
cost of 5.3 cents per dozen; the pens without exercise at a 
food cost of 6.5 cents per dozen. 

5. The three exercised pens averaged a profit per fowl 
during the year of 84 cents; the non-exercised pens, 58 
cents. 

6. Pen 1, representing egg production under the most 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



unfavorable conditions, except as to ration fed, cleared 2% 
cents per fowl during the year on the cost of food. Pen 4, 
representing egg production under the most favorable con- 
ditions, cleared during the year, $1.26 per fowl; this would 
have been increased considerably had the eggs laid before 
the experiment began being counted. In the one case there 
was a profit on food of 5 per cent; in the other, 203 per cent. 

7. Exercise had no apparent influence on the weight of 
the fow'l. The lack of exercise did not add to the weight of 
the fowls. 

8. The non-exercised pens produce eggs weighing about 
3 per cent more than the exercised pens. 

9. The eggs produced by the old Leghorn hens weighed 
about 5Vz per cent more than those produced by the Leg- 
horn pullets. 

to. The eggs produced by the Light Brahma pullets 
weighed 11% per cent more than those produced by the 
Leghorn pullets. 

11. The Barred Plymouth Rock pullets' eggs averaged 
about the same as those of the Leghorn pullets. 

12. In two out of three pens exercise produced a larger 
consumption of food. 

13. The exercised pens made a better use of the food 
than those without exercise. It required 22 per cent less 
food to produce a dozen of eggs with exercise than without 
it. The results are strongly conclusive that exercise aids 
digestion and assimilation of food. The chief value of exer- 
cise, therefore, seems to be in preventing a waste of food. 

14. Exercise apparently reduced the percentage of fer- 
tility in the eggs. 

15. The percentage of fertility was highest with the 
early hatched pullets, and lowest with the old hens; though 
the results are not conclusive. 

16. The fertility of eggs averaging five days old was 
300 per cent higher than of eggs averaging twenty-two days 
old. 

17. The results noted above were secured from what 
was considered a good ration fed alike to all pens. Practi- 
cally the same ration was fed throughout the year. The 
conclusions, therefore, must not be accepted if a different 
ration is used. 

IS. The results seem to indicate an average capacity 
for a Leghorn pullet of 200 eggs per year, with intelligent 
care and feeding. 

■ 19. No advantage was discovered in crossing Brahma 
and Leghorn. 

The Pullets Excel Yearling: Hens, and Greatly Excel 

Three and Four Year Old Hens 

SECOND YEAR. 

Age may bring reason to the hen, as it sometimes does 
in the case of a man; it may bring her experience and with 
experience wisdom, as occasionally happens to her owner. 
But do age with its reason, and experience with its wisdom, 
assist the hen in the production of eggs? That is the ques- 
tion that appeals to the practical poultryman. 

Having in view the interests of this class of poultry- 
keepers, experiments were inaugurated at the Utah Experi- 
ment Station to test the relative egg-producing capacity of 
hens at different ages. Two pens three and four years old 
were placed in "competition" with two pens of pullets. The 
breed was Rose Comb Brown Leghorn in each case, and the 
strain was the same. There were four fowls in each pen. 
The pens were 5 feet by 7 feet, and attached to each was an 
outside yai'd 5x40 feet. 

The following table gives the average results of the 
experiment for the year 1896-7: 



Weight of Food Consumed per Fowl in Pounds 


No of Eggs 


and Cost of Same. 


and Value. 
















• 


V 




.r 




X . „ 




1 


1 


1 


1 




1 


3 


1 

3 


i 


1 
1 


1 


3 i So. 




















Cts 


Cts, lets. 










in 




11 


1 


s 


i 


53V 








10 


?n' 


W'4 


b'4 


14 


1 






33 

174 


Average 




i^" 


w^ 


Vi" 


'\A 


i" 


■vi 


'-■' i.i- i^s m:^, 


Pullets (2) 


lU 


27 


Ul'A 


b'A 




■' i ^''"1 "* "^ 1-' !-'«' 4'1 




Average 






....! 





.... I.-. .1 — .ft- 1 1^ 1 !.>< -'.-^ 1 ' — 



It will be seen from the above that the two pens of old 
hens laid an average of 85 eggs per fowl during the year, 
while the two pens of pullets laid 170, or exactly double the 
number laid by the former. The value of the eggs laid by 
the old hens was 78 cents per fowl, and by the latter $1.78 
per fowl. The cost of the food required to produce a dozen 
eggs was 8.4 cents for the old hens, and 4.4 cents for the 
pullets. 

The pullets of 1896-7 were continued as one-year-old 
hens the second year, 1897-8, with the addition of another 
fowl of like age, breed, and former treatment, to each pen, 
making five fowls in each during the second year. The 
results of their second year's work are given in the follow- 
ing table: 



Second Year' 


3 Record of Food, per Fowl. 


Egg Record and 
Value. 




S 


1 


9.6 
9.8 


1 

0.5 
0.5 


S 

S 

18.2 
22.0 


11 

1 
1 


i 

cts. 
62.1 
66 5 
64,3 


1 


1 !^ 

Cts.'ct.s. 

m!7;n 






9.1 33.5 
9.1 34.5 


170 








^ 


■1 














1 






It is seen that Pen 1 laid during the second year an 
average of 150.8 eggs per fowl, against 158 the first year. 
Pen 2 laid 114.2 the second year against 182 the first. They 
averaged the first year 170 per fowl and 132.5 the second 
year. As pullets their eggs were worth an average of $1.78 
per fowl, and as one-year-old hens they averaged $1.40. a 
difference of 38 cents in favor of the first year's laying. 
But the profit from the two is another question. Deducting 
the cost of food in each case we find that the profit was $1.16 
per fowl the first year and 76 cents the second year. That 
makes the percent profit on food the first year ISS, and 118 
the second. 

These figures will afford some basis for a discussion of 
the question, does it pay to keep hens two years? Figuring 
on food cost alone there is a very satisfactory profit the 
second year as well as the first; so that it does pay when 
food cost alone is considered. But then there are other 
items of cost— labor, a yet unknown quantity, and interest 
on investment. The expense of keeping a pullet is no 
greater than that of a hen, and those figures show that the 
profit was some 50 per cent greater for the pullet than for 
ths year old hen. For ease of calculation, suppose a man 
can care for a thousand hens. If they are pullets, according 
to these results, they will yield a profit on food of $1,160 per 
year. If they are one-year-old hens the profit will be $760. 
In the one case the man will have $1,160 for his labor, inter- 
est on investment, etc., and $760 in the other case, a differ- 
ence of $400 in favor of killing off the hens at the end of the 
first year. As he can care for only a limited number of 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



hens, it certainly would pay him to renew his flock every 
year, assuming that the cost of replacing the hen with a pul- 
let can be paid with the money received from the sale of the 
hen. But the life of the great majority of the hens of the 
country is doubtless longer than two years. If we refer 
again to table 1, we see that the average value of the eggs 
produced per fowl of old hens was 78 cents. Their food 
cost .571/4 cents, leaving only 20 cents profit on food. With a 
thousand such hens there would be left only $200 to pay for 
labor and interest on investment, as against $1,160 in the 
case of pullets and $760 for one-year-old hens. 

In the above I have given the data obtained in two 
years' experiment. The results may be modified in further 
experiments. They are being continued at the Station and 
the third year will be completed in November. 

All pen? were fed alike, except as to quantity. A mash 
composed of two parts bran and shorts and one part each of 
chopped ooi-n and oats, was fed in the morning. About 10 
o'clock a little grain was fed. Three times a week cut bones 
were fed. Cabbages were fed until about the first of March, 
after which, and until green grass could be secured, lucerne 
leaves were fed dry. This was scattered in the pens. Dur- 
ing the summer green grass was thrown into the pens. No 
stimulating food was fed, except a little cayenne pepper in 
the morning mash. Salt was also used in the mash. Dur- 
ing the winter coal ashes were kept before the fowls, also a 
little gravel. No oyster shells were fed until the middle of 
summer. 

Though it is not a part of my subject, it may be men- 
tioned incidentally that this experiment involved a test of 
the value of exercise. The pen marked 1 received their 
grain food in a box; the others (2) were fed in a litter of 
straw on the floor, inducing exercise. 

JAMES DRYDEN. 

CONCLUSIONS BY THE EDITOR. 

These experiments are of great value to poultrymen, and would be if 
they did no more than rouse an interrogatory feeling among us. 

We are. however, inclined to direct the attention of our reader.^ to a 
few of the items in the foregoing reports. 

We will discuss the conclusions arrived at by Mr. Dryden at the end of 
the first year's experiments. They will be found numbered from one to 
nineteen, and clearly express the natural deductions obtained bv experi- 
ment of that year. 

PULLETS VS. HENS. 

Let us refer to the comparison of pullets with hens. We 
would like to consider the results from a slightly different 
standpoint to that taken in the experiment work. Instead 
of merely taking into consideration the number of eggs laid 
by pullets, as compared with one-year-old hens, and with 
older hens, suppose we go into the question in the light of 
an investment; for really it is the financial aspect of the 
case which interests us all. 

We will consider one pen of pullets, one of olcl hens, and 
one of yearlings, taking in each case the best paying pen. In 
considering the expense account of the pullets, we certainly 
should include the cost of the fowl from the time it is 
hatched. It is not enough simply to commence at a period 
when the pullet commences to lay and to compute disburse- 
ments and receipts for one year from that date. The pullet 
is of some value at the time it commences to lay; it also 
represents an outlay. 

The pullets we^-e hatched in April and commenced to lay 
in November. That gives just seven months in which to 
bring them to a laying stage. The cost of food for a year, 
according to table 3, was 62 cents. Reckoning on the same 
basis, the cost of food for the seven months would be 38 
cents. -Assuming that we buy the food at the beginning of 
the year sufficient to last throughout the year, then by the 
end of th? first laying year (nineteen months in all from the 



time they were hatched) there is an outlay for food of $1. 
Assuming now that we sell the pullet at an ordinary market 
price, which would be 2.5 cents; adding to this the value of 
eggs laid by her during the year, $1.88, which gives us a total 
of $2.13. Deduct the original investment of $1 and we have 
a profit of $1.13 on the cost of the food. 

Now let us refer to the three and four year old hens. 
As we estimated the value of the pullet at twenty-five cents 
when we wished to sell her, we may also estimate the value 
of old hens at the same figures when we wish to buy, there- 
fore, there is an investment of twenty-five cents to com- 
mence with. Adding to this one year's food sixty-two cents, 
making a total investment of eighty-seven cents; then as 
to receipts — we get twenty-five cents upon marketing the 
hen; we have received $1 for eggs, making a total of $1.25. 
Original investment eighty-seven cents, being cost of fowl 
and of food for a year, which being deducted, leaves us 
thirty-eight cents profit. 

Now, we will consider the one-year-old hens. We pur- 
chased the fowls for twenty-five cents each, food cost sixty- 
two cents, total investment, eighty-seven cents. At the end 
of the year we sell the fowl for twenty-five cents; eggs to 
the amount of $l.fiS, gives us a total of $1.93. The original 
investment of eighty-seven cents deducted therefrom leaves 
us n profit of $1.06. 

Upon this basis, instead of there being a difference of 
twenty cents in favor of the pullets as against the one-year- 
old hens, we make it on these figures alone, a difference of 
only seven cents in favor of the pullets as against the year- 
lings. 

We must, however, go into the matter more deeply, as 
there are other things to be considered outside of the food 
question. 

First— the eggs from which the pullets are hatched cost 
something. If you work on the basis of a 50 per cent hatch 
and 50 per cent chicks raised, it means that there will be 
four eggs used for every chicken raised. At twenty-five 
cents a dozen, which would be a fair price for April, tte 
time when the pullets were hatched, these eggs amount to 
eight cents. Suppose we call it three eggs and say six cents, 
which is to be added to the cost of feeding the pullets to 
maturity. 

There are other items. The hen which hatches the 
chicks and mothers them takes at least two months' food, 
which would average any way two cents a chick. 

If incubators and brooders were used there would be less 
cost. We may overlook the extra labor necessary with 
chicks. They will have to be fed oftener and require more 
all-around attention; but we throw that in. We have not 
hitherto considered the value of houses in this comparison, 
because the fowls were all on equal terms in that respect, 
they were all laying. 

It is different with pullets. There are seven months 
during which they do not lay, but they occupy a certain 
amount of house room. We average that at seventy-five 
cents for every pullet. Interest at six per cent on that 
amount would be four and one-half cents, and surely this 
must be added when we wish to know the actual profit or 
loss. 

These additional items create an extra expense of six 
cents for eggs, two cents for feeding the hen, four and one- 
half cents house room for non-layers, making in all twelve 
and one-)ialf cents, and reducing the profit derived from the 
pullet to one dollar and one-half cent as compared with one 
dollar and six cents, profit on the one-year-old hen. 

There is an advantage in pullets raised at home, which 
we do not meet with in pullets that are bought. There is a 
disadvantage in connection with fowls that are bought, that 
is. it; takes, say a month, before they commence laying; dur- 
ing which time they have to be fed at a cost of perhaps five 
cents each. 

These figures simply bear out the contention of the ma- 
jority of first-class breeders, who advocate the keeping of 
fowls to the end of the second year. There is so little differ- 
ence between the pullets and the one-year-old hens, if we 
consider every single expenditure, that we are not impressed 
with the statement thai pullets are so much more profitable. 

Our advice is— keep the fowls to the end of their second 
year EDITOR. 



AN EGG RATION 



The Montana Experiment Station Conducts Experiments with a View to Reducing Cost of Egg 
Production — The Value of Vegetables, Meat and Grain. 



N MARCH, April and May, 1900, we fed four pens 
of fowls, sixteen in each, fifteen liens and one 
cock, upon four different rations with a view of 
determining what effect a variety ration (meat, 
vegetables and grain), a meat ration (meat, 
meal and grain), a vegetable ration (vegetables, 
mtal and grain), and a straight grain ration had upon egg 
production. 

The fowls were housed in a log building in pens 9x10 
feet with yards 10x16 feet. The yards were very small, as 
the ground in front of the building was being graded. The 
fowls obtained no vegetable food whatever from the yards, 
as they were covered with chaff and straw. Grit, burnt 
bone and dust baths were supplied the fowls alike, as was 
plenty of fresh water. The birds all remained quite healthy 
throughout the duration of the experiment, two months and 
a half, no loss or any disease occurring. Each pen contained 
eleven two-year-old hens and four pullets and one cock. 
The male birds were all vigorous yearling Plymouth Rocks 
and well developed, so that a maximum amount of service 
could be expected from each of them. The hens were about 
one-half scrub stock, Cochin, Game, Leghorn and Rock mon- 
grels, and the remainder pure-bred Plymouth Rock hens. 
They were as evenly divided in respect to variety as possi- 
ble. Feeding was done three times a day, about 7 a. m., 
again at 11:30 a. m. and from 4 to 4:30 p. m. In each pen 
the floor was covered with litter and the grain fed therein, 
so that, though closely confined, all had plenty of exercise. 

Rations 

Pen No. 1 received in the morning 12-ounce feed, li 
bran, % oat chop, % meat, M vegetable, then a mangold was 
given, and at noon clover with a little meat or ground green 
bone. Evening feed was grain (wheat or oats). 

Pen No. 2 received in the morning 12-ounce feed, % 
bran, Vi chop, Vz meat, later some grain, and at noon a little 
meat or bone. Evening feed was grain (wheat or oats). 

Pen No. 3 received in the morning 12-ounce feed, M 
bran, % chop, V2 vegetable, then mangold and a little grain, 
and at noon clover and roots, and in evening grain (wheat 
or oats). 

Pen No. 4 received in the morning 12-ounce feed of chop, 
Vz bran. V2 oats, mixed with warm water. 

Cost of Different Rations- 
Pen No. 1 — Cost of bran, oat chop, meat and bone, vege- 
table, grain, ?1.97. 

Pen No. 2— Cost of bran, oat chop, meat and bone, 
grain, $2.03. 



Pen No. 3— Cost of bran, oat chop, vegetable, grain, 
$1.79. 

Pen No. 4— Cost of bran, oat chop, grain, fl.95. 

It was the endeavor in composing these different rations 
to show the advantage of a variety, and the variety of feeds 
used was such as could be made use of generally. 

In the second ration we endeavored to show the value 
of a succulent vegetable feed by eliminating it. 

In the third the value of meat and bone was demo- 
strated in the same manner. 

In the fourth we endeavor to show the fallacy of feed- 
ing, as many do, a straight grain ration. And in the results 
it was shown, from egg production, that the greatest egg 
yield was received from the first, the variety ration, while 
the smallest returns came from the hens fed upon the grain 
alone. The advantage here must be very apparent, since 
the cost of both rations was almost the same. The follow- 
ing table shows briefly and concisely the egg yield from the 
different pens, the weight of eggs, and their market value: 



No. Laid. Weight Cast. Value. G.nn. 

. . 431 45-8 ounces $1.97 $8.98 $7.14 

. . 407 44-4 ounces 2.03 8.48 6.58 

. . 366 39-11 ounces 1.79 7.62 5.94 

. . 342 36-6 ounces 1.95 7.12 5.29 



In computing the cost of food in this experiment the fol- 
lowing values were used: 

Oat chop $-96 

Bran 70 

Oats 90 

Wheat (frosted) 40 

Mangolds 75 

Clover 30 

Potatoes 50 

Beef and Bone = 1.00 

The eggs were valued at 25c a dozen. 

The flnancial results of this experiment are excellent. 
It has been shown that even where fed upon grain alone 
and closely confined, considerable gain was made, while the 
pen receiving the greatest variety of food, costing about the 
same, made a further gain of $1.84. The total returns of 
pen No. 1, deducting the cost of food, being $7.13 and from 
pen 4 being $5.29. In the meat and vegetable fed pens the 
one receiving the meat and bone, though the more expensive 
ration, was still more profitable, yielding a profit of 64 cents 
over pen No. 3, the total profits from the four pens of 60 
birds being $24.94, or 4IV2C per bird for period of experiment 
— two and one-half months. 



GREEN BONE AND MEAT MEAL FOR EGGS. 



The West Virginia Experiment Station Compares the Value of Meat Meal, Ground Fresh Meat 
and Bone as Egg Producing Foods. 



T IS well known that ground fresh meat and bone 
Is a very valuable constituent of a ration for egg 
production. In many localities, however, it is dif- 
ficult to procure fresh bones and scraps from 
meat markets, and even when a supply is con- 
stantly available it is not usually an easy matter 
to grind the material for the fowls. On the other hand, 
beef scraps and meat meal can be bought of the poultry sup- 
ply houses at any time, and being in a thoroughly dry con- 
dition, can be readily mixed with other feeding stuffs. 

The experiment described below was undertaken for the 
purpose of comparing meat meal with ground fresh meat 
and bone as materials furnishing protein to laying hens. 

Thirty-four Barred Plymouth Rock hens and two cocks 
were divided into two similar lots. They were supplied at 
all times with mica crystal grit, granulated bone and water. 
The grain ration for each lot of fowls was the same, but the 



amount consumed varied somewhat, and so the actual 
amount cf grain consumed by each lot is given. At the 
beginning of each period the grain for that period was 
weighed and stored in suitable boxes. No account was taken 
of the daily amounts fed. At the end of each period the 
amount remaining was again weighed, and the difference 
taken as the actual amount of food consumed. 

The experiment began October 25, 1899, and was con- 
tinued for four periods of thirty days each. 

During the experiment the fowls receiving the fresh 
bone laid 3,824 eggs weighing 49-5.2 pounds, of an average 
weight of 12.75 pounds per hundred eggs, while the meat 
meal lot laid only 3,260 eggs weighing 391.2 pounds and 
weighing 11.94 pounds per hundred. Consequently the fowls 
fed fresh bone not only gained more in weight, but they also 
laid more and larger eggs. 



PRESERVING EGGS. 



Experiments on Egg Preservation at the Agricultural College, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, Afford 
Valuable Information — Methods That Were Tried and Results Obtained. 



From the Reliable Poultry Journal. 



' EVERAL methods of preserving eggs have been 
tested during the year. The eggs for this pur- 
pose were taken early in June, and were tested 
in December. Many of the same methods 
that proved fairly successful last year were 
again tried. 
Method No. 1 — A solution was used composed of one 
part water glass (sodium silicate) and five parts water that 
had been previously boiled. This was a very strong solu- 
tion, and unless an egg was absolutely fresh, it would not 
sink in the solution. 

The eggs from this solution were of fairly good flavor, 
and all were well preserved. 

Metho'd No. 2 — This was similar to No. 1, except that 
eight parts of water were used instead of five parts. The 
eggs in this were nearly as good eggs as those from No. 1. 
This is a good preservative where it is desired to keep sum- 
mer eggs for winter use. 

Method No. 3 — This was composed of ten parts of water 
to one part of water glass. There were no had eggs in this 
solution, but the eggs were inferior in flavor and in poach- 
ing quality to those kept by methods No. 1 and No. 2. 

Method No. 4.— This consisted of the same solution as 
No. 2; but in place of allowing the eggs to remain in the 
liquid they were removed after having been in it for a week, 
except the last lot which was put in the solution. This 
lot was allowed to remain the remainder of the season. 

(a) The eggs, after being in the solution for a week, 



were removed and placed in an ordinary egg case in the 
cellar. They were all good when tested, but had evapor- 
ated considerably and were lacking in flavor. 

(b) These were the second lot of eggs to be placed in 
the liquid. They were handled similarly to those in (a), 
and were about equal quality. 

fc) These eggs were allowed to remain in the liquid. 
They were well preserved, all being good. 

They were scarcely equal in quality to those from No. 2 
method, but were superior to those from No. 3. 

Method No. 5. — A lime solution, made as follows: 

Two pounds cf fresh lime were slacked in a pail and a 
pint of salt was added thereto. After mixing, the contents 
of the pail were put into a tub containing four gallons of 
water. This was well stirred and left to settle. Then it 
was stirred thoroughly the second time and left to settle; 
after which the clear liquid was poured over the eggs, which 
had previously been placed in a crock or tub. Only the 
clear liquid was used. 

These eggs were well preserved; but those from the '^-'- 
tom of the tub had a decidedly lime taste, and the yolk in 
them was somewhat hardened. 

A Question on the Subject of Preserving Eggs 

Au Gres, Mich., June 20, 1901. 
Editor Reliable Poultry Journal. 

Regarding the article on preserving eggs, I would like 
a litrle more information on the subject. As I understand 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



8i 



it, sodium silicate is a liquid, and according to the price we 
have to pay for same here— 50 cents per gallon— it would 
cost about 21/2 cents per dozen to preserve eggs. Now can 
you tell me how much liquid one pound of the powder sili- 
cate would make? Would it make one gallon or ten gallons 
of sodium silicate? I suppose that sodium means water. 
We can buy the powder for 60 cents per pound and the 
liquid 50 cents per gallon, and if one pound of silicate will 
make more than one gallon, it would be much cheaper to 
use the powder and furnish your own water. P. B. G. 

A.— The above inquiry we sent to the experiment sta- 
tion from which the information referred to was obtained. 
We received the following answer: 

Guelph, Ontario, Canada." 

"I must apologize for not answering your letter at aji 
earlier date, but I have been waiting on our chemist. He 
has been away looking after sugar beets and is still out, so 



cannot give you any definite answer regarding the powder. 
I cannot see why it would not act as well diluted. I pre- 
surae any good druggist would be in a position to inform 
you upon the matter. 

•'I find water glass (sodium silicate) is variable in 
strength, also that the English water glass is much thicker 
and stronger than the American. We find that the Ameri- 
can as we get it wi',1 sink in a preparation of one part water 
glass to six parts of water, and in some cases to five parts 
water, whereas with the English it will not sink in a solu- 
tion of less than eleven to twelve parts of water. 

"We find it costs us about one cent per dozen to put 
eggs in the English water glass, diluting one to twelve, 
and paying SO cents per gallon for the liquid. 
"Very truly yours, 

"W. R. GRAHAM, 
"Manager Poultry Department, Ontario Agricultural College, 



PRESERVATION OF EGGS. 



The Rhode Island Experiment Station Makes Tests of Various Methods of Preserving Eggs," and 
Secures Results that Will Interest Poultrymen — Details of the Experiments. 



a^ HERE are numerous methods of preserving eggs, 
jl^- all of them of commercial importance, because, 
i^;^ were it not for them, the market would not be 
""^ relieved cf its surplus at the time of the greatest 
production, and prices would fall so as to leave no 
profit for either producer or dealer. A novel industry is 
that of canning eggs, as practiced by the large packing 
houses. The shells are removed and their contents sold for 
baker's purposes. Another method of preserving eggs is 
by drying the whites and yolks, which are then sold in pow- 
dered form. 

Ofttimes the knowledge of a coning scarcity of fresh 
laid eggs makes it desirable for the housewife to keep eggs 
for several weeks or even months before using. After re- 
peated requests the Rhode Island Experimental Station un- 
dertook to determine which of the numerous simple meth- 
ods could best be utilized to economically and effectively 
preserve the surplus of eggs, produced in the spring for a few 
months, so that they might be used to advantage in the fall 
and early winter, when eggs are scarce. 

The oxygen in the air is the chief promoter of the chem- 
ical changes wrought by action of the germs, hence the ex- 
clusion of the air excludes both the germs, and their sup- 
porting element. For this reason the success of most meth- 
ods of preserving depends upon the absence of air. Of these 
methods the following were deemed worthy of a trial: 
1. Water glass (a silicate of soda). 



3. 


Slacked lime and salt brine. 


4. 


Vaseline. 


5. 


Dry wood ashes. 


6. 


Gypsum. 


7. 


Powdered sulphur. 


8. 


Brimstone fumes and sulphur. 


9. 


Permanganate of potash. 


10. 


Salicylic acid. 


11. 


Salt brine. 



In each test fresh eggs were used, carefully gathered 
and cautiously handled. When a liquid preservative was 
used, the eggs were carefully washed before being subjected 
to the process. For the parallel tests twenty eggs were 
used, as uniform as possible in size, color of shell and age. 
laid by fowls of one breed, treated alike as to food, range, 
care and management. During the trials the stone jars 
containing the eggs remained undisturbed on the floor of a 
cellar closet where the temperature ranged from sixty-two 
to sixty-seven degrees F. in summer. 

RESULTS OF TESTS. 

WATER GLASS. 

Water glass, or soluable glass, was diluted with water 
in the proportion of one part water glass to nine parts 
boiled water. On May 18, 1899, twenty Leghorn eggs were 
carefully washed and placed in a stone jar. Over them was 
poured the ten per cent solution of water glass. In this pre- 
servative they were kept a little more than ten months, 
until April 4, 1900. Result: Good, 100 per cent; bad, 
per cent. 

The shells of the eggs were very clean, owing to the 
alkaline nature of the solution: the air cells were not en- 
larged. Examination showed the whites of the eggs to be 
clear, but not so limpid as those of fresh eggs. The eggs 
appeared normal in color and condition. They had kept 
well for ten months, and proved to be suitable for table use. 

SALT. 

Fine table salt used. It was packed in the jar to the 
depth of two inches. Twenty eggs were packed in the jar. 
small ends down, not touching each other, and closely 
packed in salt. Result, April 4: Good, per cent; bad, 
100 per cent. 

For preserving eggs for a few months, however, this 
method may be recommended. It is simple, cheap, and for 
short periods reasonably effective. 



82 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



LIME WATER AND BRINE. 

One pound of quick-lime and one-half pound of table 
salt were thoroughly mixed with four quarts of boiled water. 
After slacking and settling, the clear solution was drawn 
off for use in the test. On May 18, twenty eggs were cov- 
ered with the liquid. At the end of the period the result 
was: Good, 100 per cent; bad, per cent. 

The surface of the shells was clean and clear. The air 
cells were not increased in size. The whites and yolks were 
normal in appearance. The whites beat up nicely, but had 
a slightly saline taste. This old-fashioned method of pre- 
serving eggs was again proved effective. 

FAILURE OF OTHER METHODS. 

In this test of long duration (ten months and seventeen 
days), the remaining eight methods proved total failures. 

To determine more fully the value of water glass as a 
preservative, four more tests were made. These four lots 
were placed in the solution May 20. 1899, and were kept until 
th* fourth of April following, when they were pronounced 
nearly as good for culinary purposes as fresh eggs. Further 
tests proved only more conclusively that this silicate of 
soda was nearly perfect as a preservative of eggs. From 
120 eggs not one was bad. 

WATER-GLASS SOLUTION. 

The keeping of eggs in a ten per cent solution of water 
glass for a period of nearly a year resulted so successfully 
that, it was decided to continue the experiments and ascer- 
tain to what extent the solution could be diluted and still 



of trials is here shovi 


n in t 


abular 


fon* 






Test No 


Method. 


Per 


No. of 


Period. ■ 


Good. 


Bad. 






cent. 


Eggs. 




Percent. 




XXV. 


Water glass 


10 


30 


11—19 


100 





XXVI. 




S 


30 


11—19 


100 











24 


11—6 


100 










24 


11-6 






XXIX. 






20 


10-21 


100 




XXX. 




10 




10—21 


90 








10 


20 




80 


20 






S 




9-15 


85 




xxxin. 




3 




9-15 


100 




.XXXIV. 


Pure Water 




17 


9—15 











2 


17 


9-8 


100 











15 


8-24 


100 




XXXVII. 




1 


14 


»-24 




ino 


XXXVIII. 






15 




IIM 





The expense of the water glass at sixty cents per gallon 
would amount to about two-thirds of a cent per dozen eggs. 
This does not include the expense of the jar or other recep- 
tacle, which may be of stoneware, glass or wood. 

Note.— Those who visited the incubator exhibit at the 
Pan-American Exposition will remember that in a small 
booth at one end of the building a persuasive talker was 
earnestly declaiming the merits of his "new and sure recipe 
for preserving eggs." On a table he had a three-gallon 
stone jar filled with eggs which he claimed had been in the 
colorless solution for nearly a year. He had testimonials 
to show that some of the purchasers of his "marvelous dis- 
covery" had kept eggs for more than a year, at the end of 
which time they were as good as when laid. He did a rushing 
business selling formulas at "$1 each, reduced from $2." 
"Buy eggp when they are eight cents a dozen, and sell them 
for forty cents when eggs are scarce," was his inducement. 
His preservative was a ten per cent solution of water glass. 



WEIGHT OF EGGS DURING INCUBATION. 



Tests Made by the West Virginia Experiment Station to Discover the Loss of Weight 
in Eggs During Incubation. 




RECENT bulletin of the West Virginia Univer- 
sity Experiment Station, Morgantown, W. Va., 
is devoted to a report of loss in weight of eggs 
during incubation. Details of three tests are 
■ given, showing the original weight of the eggs, 
their weights respectively at the end of the fifth, 
twelfth and nineteenth days, and a comparison of the 
weights of infertile eggs with those that hatched, and 
with others that contained chicks dead in the shell. The 
summary and conclusion give results of the experiments aa 
follows: 

1 — Fertile eggs, when incubated in a normal manner, 
decrease in weight. 

2— The eggs which hatched lost 4.17 per cent of their 
weight during the first five days of incubation. During the 
seven succeeding days they lost 6.35 per cent of the weight 
of the eggs at the end of the fifth day, and during the next 



seven days last 6.9S per cent of their weight at the end of 
the twelfth day. 

3 — One hundred fertile eggs of average size will lose 
234.9 grams, or 8.28 ounces, during the first five days of 
incubation; 341. S grams, or 12.05 ounces, during the next 
seven days; and 352.8 grams, or 12.44 ounces, during the next 
seven days. 

4— The unfertile eggs lost 3.6 per c>nt of their original 
weight during the first five days of incubation. During the 
seven succeeding days they last 5.6 per cent of what they 
weighed at the end of the fifth day, and during the next 
seven days lost 5.6 per cent of their weight on the twelfth 
day. 

One hundred unfertile eggs will lose 217.2 grams, or 
7.66 ounces, during the first five days; 323.3 grams, or 11.40 
ounces during the next seven Jays; 306.9 grams, or 10.82 
ounces, during the next seven days. 




lEAVY ILAYEB^G 



AMD FlEMTIILITYo 




GETTING FERTILE EGGS. 



Care of the Breeding Stock— Merits of Green Food — Selection of Eggs— Age and Constitution of 
the Layers — Maturity of the Males. 



A. F. HUNTER, Associate Editor of the Reliable Poultry Journal. 




NOTHER hatching season is at hand and we will 
do well to agp.in consider the points of getting 
eggs that will procure strong, vigorous chicks. 
It is of little advantage to hatch weak, puny 
chicks. They linger along a week or two, 
then pine and die; there is no satisfaction 
in hatching such chicks as that, and yet, unfortunately, a 
great many such arc hatched. If the knowledge requisite 
to the hatching of strong, vigorous chicks was more gener- 
ally taught, and then lived up to, the now very great chick 
mortality would be decidedly lessened, and our profits very 
much enhanced 

We use the term, ''good hatihable eggs," and use it ad- 
visedly, because thousands and thousands of eggs are put 
into incubators or under hens which never ought to be used 
at all; they will not hatch if incubated, or, if they do hatch, 
the chicks produced will be so weak and puny it is impossi- 
ble ihey should make a live of it. The witty "Autocrat of the 
Breakfast Table" was asked when the education of a child 
should begin, and replied, "twenty years before the child is 
born," and we ought to begin to work for the good hatchable 
eggs we want at least a year before the eggs are produced. 
This, of course, means selecting the birds for our future 
breeding stock while they are still chicks; their strong, 
sturdy appearance at that time plainly indicates strength 
and vigor of constitution which will make them hardy and 
vigorous birds. 

An excellent illustration of the great benefits of strength 
and vigor in the breeding stock is seen in a letter 
from a Tennessee subscriber, which we quoted in the 
R. P. J.: "I give my incubator good attention and use 
only the best eggs, carefully tested for good, even shells, 
and I always set two hens at the same time. When I test 
out the infertile eggs I replace with live eggs from under the 
hens, so that all the eggs left in the machine are strongly 
fertile, and it is no wonder to me that I hatch nearly all of 
them. Prom time to time I compare it precisely, so that 
when hatching time comes the chicks hatch like popping 
corn. When I take off a hatch I do not expect a single chick 
to die, and they rarely ever do. If this sounds to you like 
bragging, let it go at that, but the statement is true, that 



from the last three hatches I have made not a single chick 
ha? died. They were raised and are now being raised in 
brooders, in the dead of winter, and not, as you assume, 
in the spring months of last year. My hens are strong— if 
they haven't got legs on them like mill-posts then I do not 
keep them. I knew both a hen's capabilities and limitations, 
and early in the summer can pick out the pullets that will 
pay for their keep. 

"The suggestion that you make, that I would have to 
incubate 5,000 eggs a month to market 2,000 broilers a 
month, seems to me, in the light of my own experience, sim- 
ply preposterous. You may be right, but give me such hens 
as I have got, let me select the eggs, run the incu- 
bators and superintend the feeding and care of the 
chicks, and I would not give any one ten cents to guarantee 
me 4.000 broiler chicks from 5,000 eggs. I know I should 
do better than that here in Tennessee. If this sounds like 
foolishness to you, it must be because you have operated in 
the north and raised your chicks in confinement. Mine have 
large runs on blue grass and white clover from the time they 
are two weeks old, the year around, and they inherit good 
constitutions from parents raised in like manner, and they 
just simply don't die." 

There is a gi-eat big moral in that story. What a splen- 
did example of strength and vigor in the breeding stock, 
grown from chicks that inherited strength and vigor from 
their parents, and the chicks hatched from eggs produced 
by such strong constitutioned breeding stock "just simply 
don't die." Note, too, that the eggs are "only the best eggs, 
carefully tested for good, even shells." Far too many of 
us do not "select" the eggs from which the chicks are 
hatched, to say nothing of "selecting" the hens that are to 
lay the eggs! If. howevei-, we are to have generations of 
strong-constitutioned stock we must work for it as does our 
Tennessee friend; wi; must build up t'lc strength and vigor 
by careful and persi; tent "selection" for these much desired 
qualities. 

Raising the Breeding Stock. 
Our future breeding birds should be brought up on free 
range, where they can get plenty of fresh air and exercise 
and have plenty of shade when they want it, and should be 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



fed a ration which will produce flesh rather than fat. to the 
end that they grow up strong, muscular, hardy, and have 
much reserve strength. This stock after being brought 
into the houses for the winter should have plenty of fresh 
air and abundant exercise. To attain these things the cur- 
tained-front scratching shed house is desirable and they 
should be compelled to work and scratch for every kernel 
of grain they eat. To say, "compel" does not rightly express 
the idea, because it is the bird's nature to scratch for and 
search for its food, and it is only necessary for us to provide 
the right conditions to liave the birds do the necessary 
scratching and searching — "it is their nature to!" That 
scratching and searching quickens the circulation and pro- 
motes digestion: in other words, it promotes and preserves 
good health: and such birds, fed a well-balanced ration, and 
breathing sweet, pure, fresh air. will produce good, sound 
eggs, eggs with firm yolks and whites of the right constitu- 
ency and with sound, strong shells, and when put in an in- 
cubator or under hens, with the hatching conditions right, 
the chicks will come out of them "like popping corn," as 
Mr. Pollard is so fond of expressing it. 

Green food in winter is most essential. When running 
at large in the grass fields growing pullets eat a very great 
quantity of grass-blades, etc., and when they are brought 
into the pens in the poultry houses they must have the same 
conditions continued in the shape of green food regularly 
supplied tn them, if good health would be maintained. What 
this green food is depends upon what supplies we have: it 
may be any one of several things or it may be of several 
kinds. Cut clover or alfalfa in the mash are the best arti- 
cles for this green food supply, and fresh cabbages are a 
close second. Almost any kind of vegetables or fruits, such 
as turnips, beets, carrots, apples, etc., etc., are good, and the 
birds eat them greedily. Not only do these green foods pro- 
mote the general health of the fowls, but they are economi- 
cal to feed because they "extend" the ration and thus save 
the consumption of grain and more costly foods: the poul- 
trynian who feeds green food regularly will find his grain 
bills greatly reduced thereby, besides the great advantage 
of better health of the fowls, more eggs, and stronger chicks 
hatched from the eggs. 

"Select the Eggs." 

Not only should we select the breeding stock, but we 
should "select" the eggs laid by the breeding stock that 
we have selected. Do not set an egg. even from your best 
hen, if it is a poor egg; by which we mean poorly-shelled, 
poorly shaped, or otherwise lacking in the qualities which 
make up a good egg. The fancy poultry breeder gives too 
little heed to the most important points of strength and 
vigor of the chicks, and will use misshapen and poorly- 
shelled eggs if the hen that laid them is all right— is possibly 
a first prize winner. He is thinking of the fine points of 
the hen and not at all of whether the chicks hatched from 
those eggs will grow up strong, sturdy and vigorous. The 
practical poultryraan, on the contrary, can ignore the show 
qualities, and should consider only the strength and vigor 
of the offspring. Therefore, after we have selected our best 
breeding birds, paying particular attention to the points 
requisite for constitutional health and vigor, we should reject 



every egg ihat is questionable, and put in the incubator or 
under the hens only such as give the#est promise of pro- 
ducing first quality chicks; in other words, using only "good, 
hatchable eggs." 

Undoubtedly the eggs from the ycar-old-hens will pro- 
duce the largest, strongest and most robust chicks, hence, 
if we are aiming at the very best results we will 
not breed from pullets, even though they be a full 
year old at the breeding season; it is much better that 
they pass through the summer and through one molt in 
order that their "staying power" become manifest. Not In- 
frequently a pullet which is very promising at six or eight 
months old and proves a most excellent layer for a time, 
develops some constitutional weakness, or some defect de- 
velops which puts it out of the running — and such should 
never be used in the breeding pen. Similarly with those 
that have had colds, or other illness. Such illness is good 
and sufficient evidence of lack of vigor, and the manifesta- 
tion of any lack of vigor should exclude the bird from the 
breeding pen. 

Herein is the strongest argument against using pullets 
for breeders, even though they be in apparently excellent 
physical condition. We ought not to use their eggs for 
breeding until they have approved their constitutional vigor 
by a full year's work in egg production and passing through 
the trial of the molt. Similarly with males; do not use one 
that is not fully mature— that means that it is at least ten 
months old when put in the breeding pen. We had a letter 
a tew days ago from a lady who had bought a sitting of eggs 
the last of .July and hatched a clutch of chicks in August, 
and she asked if a cockerel from that clutch would do to 
use in the breeding pen this spring. Most certainly not. 
Cockerels so late hatched as that are "soft" and immature- 
To use them in tlie breeding pen insures poorly fertilized 
eggs and a lowering of strength and vigor of the chicks. Be 
sure that the cockerels put in the pens are early hatched and 
fully matured, with stout, sturdy legs and broad backs; in 
fact, that give abundant evidence of full strength and vigor. 
Such will produce good chicks if the females are right. 

It is sometimes advisable, too, to alternate males in the 
pens. A communication published in the R. P. J- tells 
how the writer got 79 per cent hatch from all eggs put in 
his incubators, and one of the methods he employed was to 
have six breeding males for four breeding pens, and keep 
the males moving from pen to pen, each male having one 
day in each pen and two of the males being out resting all 
the time. There are many advantages to such a plan, as it 
prevents the male having special favorites among his mates 
and ignoring others. Of course, this plan interferes with 
what is called "special matings," which is where females 
have special points which need to be strengthened are mated 
to males which it is estimated will strengthen those weak 
points. For the practical poultry raiser (and that means- 
nine-tenths of the poultry raisers) special matings are un- 
necessary. The points for him to consider are strength and 
vigor of the chicks, and to that end he should study the 
strength and vigor of the breeding stock and the conditions 
which promote the good health of that breeding stock, and 
then aim to produce "good, hatchable eggs" to the end that 
the chicks hatched from them are abundantly endowed with 
strength and vigor. A. F. HUNTER. 



HEAVY LAYING AND FERTILITY. 

Arguments and Evidences Intended to Prove That the Two-Hundred Egg Hen is Fully as 

Reproductive as Her Sister, the Poor Layer. Correct and Economical 

Feeding and Balanced Rations 



By A. J. SILBERSTEIN. 



T AFFORDED me no little gratification to read 
the reports of some o£ our experiment stations 
during last summer, showing that they had 
taken up record keeping, which I have long 
advocated and kept. The wide publicity given 
these repoi-ts was especially gratifying, but some 
of the deductions made from them by poultry writers were 
amusing. 

One of the most interesting of these reports was that of 
the Orono (Maine) station, from which an amusing deduc- 
tion was made by a well-known writer. The latter stated, 
"It was found that the eggs from the heavier layers were 
very infertile, and this is a point which calls for serious 
consideration of whether or not, where reproduction is de- 
sirtd, the heavy layers are best." In quoting this writer I 
wisli to give him the credit of being the most conservative 
in his statement of the many who, under one pretence or an- 
oths'-, have shied their castors at the heavy layer. 

Those who have kept complete records for three or more 
years are prepared at any time to furnish sufficient facts to 
prove that the heavy layer is by no rule identified with the 
infertile hen: that, for some (as yet) unexplained causes, 
all flocks have their fertile and infertile hens — hens whose 
eggs hatch well and hens whose eggs are almost entirely in- 
fertile; that in both the fei-tile and infertile classes there 
are heavy, and avei'age, and poor layers; but to assume that 
heavy layers' eggs are infertile because of heavy laying, is 
as wide from the facts as the statement that poor layers' 
egg.^ are infertile because of the few they lay. 

The causes that induce fertility and infertility are almost 
entirely unknown; and if I were to hazard a guess from my 
own efforts to obtain light on the subject, I should be 
prompted to state that it will be a long time before informa- 
tion on this important Question will be had, unless a lucky 
accident discloses the truth, as a fall, or idle kick at a 
stone has in the past disclosed a rich mine. 

Where stimulation is resorted to for increased egg yield, 
it is doubtless to be expected that the eggs from the heaviest 
layer would prove the most infertile. There are many hens 
which cannot be stimulated to increased egg yield, and when 
condiments are regularly fed to such, infertility is immedi- 
ately noticeable in decreased percentage of eggs hatched 
and increased percentage of mortality in chicks. Other 
hens, again, respond readily to stimulation, and at an even 
greater cost in fertility; the heaviest layer under such con- 
ditions being naturally the pooref.t in fertility. This is no 
guess, but a lesson learned from experience, and one that 
any breeder can readily verify at little cost in time. 

Without knowing more of the experience in the case of 
the experiment of Orono station than appeared in print, I 
venture the assertion that if Professor Gowell were asked 
as to relation of percentage of fertility to laying (providing 
fertility records were kept of all layers, and stimulation 



were not resorted to) he would say that the heavy layer 
Willi the large percentage of fertility, was not exceeded in 
that percentage by his average or poor layers, or both; and 
that there were as many or more average and poor layers 
with low fertility records in his flock, as there were heavy 
layers with that failing. Where forcing is not resorted to, 
there is no line of fertility drawn between the heavy layers 
and others less prolific; nor does heavy (but natural) laying 
in any way interfere with the productive powers of the 
layer. 

We find hens arrayed in classes without regard to their 
laying ability; some that will strongly stamp their progeny 
withtheirindividuality; others that seem to reproduce them- 
selves only at times and still others that completely fail in 
reproduction; and in each class, as in the fertility classes, 
the heavy, the average, and the poor layers are to be found, 
proving that natural laying has no influence whatever on 
reproduction. 

In some poultry publications I have read articles that 
seek to prove the heavy layer is undesirable for breeding 
purposes, the argument being advanced that nothing is 
heard in the case of individuals or flocks that have made 
"phenomenal'' (?) records, of their progeny having equalled 
or improved the "original" record. I fully realize that a 
wide field for misrepresentation, if not fraud, in statements 
of prolific laying is offered those with an elastic conscience, 
and also understand the kind of reception statements of 
seemingly large records receive from readers of poultry lit- 
erature. Taking the subject as a whole, I assume responsi- 
bility for the statement that, were individual records of 
laying more generally kept, the cwo-hundred-egg-hen would 
be found to be quite numerous — perhaps seven to ten per 
cent of thoroughbred flocks would be found to exceed that 
mark; but large flocks that exceed an average of one hun- 
dred and fifty eggs per hen per year are extremely rare, if 
sucli exist. Speaking for myself, I arn not anxious to divide 
the notoriety which the publication of so-called large records 
of individual laying brings with those who seek it; the few 
records of some of my birds that have been published, being 
with me merely an incident in the course of the work which 
I have mapped out and adhered to — the improvement of 
thoroughbred poultry in shape and plumage; in number, 
size and color of eggs; in weight of carcass and in early 
maturity. 

It has also been argued that if the two-hundred-egg-hen 
can reproduce herself, it should be an easy matter to obtain 
a pen of her daughters, all two-hundred-egg-hens, the first 
year; that this pen could easily produce a hundred two-hun- 
dred-egg-hens another year; and so on, until this absent- 
minded theorist has succeeded, in fancy, in making eggs 
worth about ten cents a carload. On this same basis a 
ninety-five-point-hen ought to produce a pen of ninety^ive- 
point-pullets the first year; this pen of pullets a hundred 



86 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



ninety-five-pointers the second year, and so on, but they do 
not, and probably will not until we who breed them learn 
some of the A B C's of breeding, and I fear that day will 
not dawn in the lives of the present generation; but who 
knows ? 

That the two-hundred-egg-hen does reproduce herself 
quite as often as, and oftener, than the ninety-five-point- 
hen, is well known by those who have kept records for a 
few years. Just as breeders find it an easy matter to repro- 
duce the ninety-two-point-breeder — harder to reproduce the 
ninety-three-point-bird — difficult to reproduce the one that 
scores ninety-four, and a rare occurrence to reproduce the 
male or female that reaches ninety-five, just so is the one 
hundred and twenty eggs per year hen readily reproduced, 
the one hundred and fifty egg hen not quite so readily, the 
one hundred and seventy-five egg hen quite difficult, and the 
two hundred egg hen about as easy to get a fiock of as it 
is to get a flock of ninety-four-point hens. That "like be- 
gets like" — with intelligent allowance for reversion^is the 
experience of all old breeders in breeding all classes of thor- 
oughbred stock. 

To those who keep records, the above statements need 
not be proved, for each of them has been overwhelmingly 
proved in his own experience. To convince others, I give 
a brief statement, copied from my records, showing the 
effect of heavy (?) laying on fertility and the reproductive 
powers of so-called heavy layers. Unfortunately the records 
cannot be given for the complete year (I refer to current 
year), because of circumstances beyond my power to con- 
trol. Keeping records was rendered impossible from Sep- 
tember 12 to October 14, and parts of former years' records 
were lost. I give the statement without further comment: 

That feeding has an important bearing on egg yield is 
too well known to require argument; but not in the sense 
in which it is very often discussed. Correct feeding is an 
essential to perfect health, and perfect health is essential 
to success in breeding. To force a fowl, and continue the 



Dam's 
Record; 


Pullets 
Retained 


Pullets 


Record 


Total 


Total 




Alive 


for 


Began 


'°,o 


Eggs 


Chicks 


Sold. 


Sept. 


1899-1900 


Breeding. 

(1900)^ 


Laying 


Sept. 12 


sit. 


Hatched. 




2 




f T 23 


Feb. 10. 


ol34 


46 


22 


10 






•• 24 


Mar. 17. 


*83 


31 


8 







233 Eggs... 


J •• 89 

] ■■ 105 


Feb. 8. 
Mar.feb. 


148 
146 


31 
10 


27 


15 






•• 161 


Feb, 19, 


173 


30 


24 


8 


11 




1 •• 180 


Mar.20. 


fill 


35 








209 Eggs... 


( " 15 
/ " 150 


Jan. 26. 
Jan. 20. 


157 
181 


33 
40 


26 


]] 


14 




( •• 51 


Feb. 5. 


*139 


32 


5 








205 Eggs... 


!:;s 


&. I 


193 
151 


52 
27 


45 
15 


17 
4 


22 




( " 84 


Dec. 31, 


189 


52 


38 


20 




197 Eggs... 


\ " TO 


Feb. 17. 


142 


23 





1 






I •' 149 


Feb. 10. 


dbl 




3 







195 Eggs... 


j " 100 


Mar.24. 


125 


22 


15 


5 






1 •• 192 


Jan. 6. 


194 


33 


19 







231 Eggs... 


Eggs infe 


tile durin 


gall off 


rst year 









forcing beyond her natural ability, will meet with the 
same results that an effort to continue forcing a race horse 
to do the work of a draught horse would. With hens it does 
not always result in the death of the fowl, although I am 
quite sure that the breeder is fortunate who so quickly gets 
his proof. The results of forcing is too often evident in 
reduced vitality of the second and following generations, 
and that is the most expensive of all experiences in this 
line. With correct methods in feeding we can only hope 
for improvement in laying, and in shape, size, feather, etc., 
by rigid and careful selection. 

What is correct feeding? Who among us knows? 



Speaking for myself, I am most anxious to learn. My con- 
struction of the term "correct feeding"^Tnplies the method 
which shall at lowest cost of material and time, keep fowls 
in perfect health as is evidenced by an ample yield of hatch- 
able eggs, while maintaining the bird's size (weight) and 
uniform weight of tggs. 

We frequently hear of instances where fowls of no par- 
ticular breed, and receiving no care but an occasional feed 
of grain (generally corn) are yet giving good returns. If 
this is "correct feeding" we want to know it without delay. 
I had the opportunity of investigating one such case that 
was brought to my notice. It cannot, of course, be taken as 
a criterion for all, but such as it is, I give it, believing that 
it sheds some light on the subject. 

In the case referred to the fowls had free range, access 
to manure cellar and every other place their fancy prompted; 
roosted wherever they pleased, were fed leavings from the 
table, and when these were scarce, were given corn. About 
forty fowls were giving eight to twelve eggs a day at the 
end of November. It was my good fortune to call when eggs 
were being gathered, and I counted eleven. I asked how 
often eggs were collected, and was told, "Every now and 
then." Further questioning brought out the fact that no 
one had gathered eggs Thursday (Friday when I called) or 
Wednesday, so here we have the egg yield dwindled down to 
one-third. 

In my effort to obtain results which seemed to me sat- 
isfactory, I have endeavored to imitate nature as far as my 
limited knowledge gave me a conception of her methods, 
and to improve on them where, in my judgment, improve- 
ment was possible. 

In observing wild birds it has seemed to me that they 
hunt food about all day long, and in my fancy I have pic- 
tured them as often going to their roosts at night with their 
hunger but partly appeased. 

Fowls will not exercise for the sake of exercise; given a 
full crop and they will doze until hunger prompts them to 
move. This has been my experience, and the experience of 
all with whom I have conversed on the subject. Given a 
mash in the morning they apparently do not see the grain 
thrown in Utter for them to scratch for. 

With my first lot of fowls I followed the beaten paths 
given in poultry literature of the day, and fed "all they 
would clean up quickly" of mash in the morning as in- 
structed. "All they would clean up quickly" bothered me 
a bit, for I found their appetites to vary considerably, a 
pen of twelve fowls cleaning up anywhere from one to six 
pounds, so that, when making the mash, I was at a loss to 
know how much meal to use. The noon meal of grain scat- 
tered in litter seldom interested them, and their scratching 
was spasmodic and rare. I changed the bill of fare, and 
fed them mash for the noon meal, and after a while secured 
exercise in the forenoon. Another change, and mash was 
fed at night, and by this method was secured constant exer- 
cise throughout the day. This seems to me more in line 
with, and perhaps an improvement on nature's way. A care- 
ful sprinkling of small quantities of grain in deep litter 
during the day imitates nature in that it compels the fowls 
to seek for their food grain by grain, while the feeding of 
mash at night is the improvement on nature's way, which 
insures a full crop daily just before going to roost. I prefer 
mash to grain at night, because it digests quicker, bringing 
birds from the roosts the next morning with a sharpened ap- 
petite, while a full grain feed is often but partly digested in 
the morning. One night an accidental dropping of grain, 
after they had eaten all they would of mash, surprised me 
by causing the fowls to jump for it greedily. I thought 



■EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



87 



it over and the next night fed about half of the quantity 
they cleaned up the night before, then gave another portion, 
and a third, with about ten minutes' interval between each, 
and noted they ate fully one-half more In this way. Since 
then I have repeatedly tried feeding them at once the full 
quantity they ate the night before, but I never had them fin- 
ish it. In short, by feeding small quantities at a time, I 
was coaxing them to eat more than they otherwise would. 
In theory, as in fact, I have never been able to see anything 
but improvement in results, as a consequence of this method 
of feeding at night mash, and it has always obtained here 
since. 

Next, with mo. came the problem— what to feed. In 
seeking light I dived into the intricacies of "chemical analy- 
sis" and "nutritive ratios." Taking as a basis for my figures 
an average of analysis of each of the grains I used, I found 
my bill of fare approximated about 1:9 — one part protein 
to about nine parts of the fats. Upon the assumption that 
feeding laying fowls might for the purpose in view be com- 
pared with feeding milch cows that best results from the 
latter were had when fed a ration approximately equaling 
in nutritive ratio that of milk, their product, I assumed that 
best results in laying might be had from fowls if fed a 
ration equaling in nutritive ratio that of the egg, their 
product, and in line with this theory I attempted to compose 
a bill of fare, the chemical analysis of which would show a 
nutritive ration of about 1:2%. 

I have at different times bought mongrel hens that 
obtained the greater part of their food on free range in the 
spring, and on opening their crops found them filled mostly 
with insects and worms, quite a little green food, with seeds, 
grains, etc., in smallest quantities. In the absence of a 
knowledge of chemistry I have assumed that this fact con- 



firmed my theory of a narrow ration (1:2% or lower) for 
laying hens, believing that analysis would show the animal 
food found in crops to have a value akin to lean meat. 

In attempting 10 feed a ration approximating in its en- 
tirety a value of 1:2% I found the need of a very narrow 
mash to overcome the high nutritive in the various grains. 
In narrowing the mash I at first added considerably to its 
cost, because of the quantities of expensive concentrated 
foods needed. Again, if a narrow ration is correct, it pre- 
sents an added reason for feeding the mash at night, because 
of the quantity that needs to be fed, to overcome the total 
of fats in the grains given the fowls— a quantity which if 
fed at any other time would effectually stop exercise for the 
day. The trouble encountered at first was in the expense, 
and in loosening the bowels to a disagreeable extent. 

As before stated, to obtain the nutritive ratio of the 
rations I fed, I used the figures given as the average of the 
grains in the various experiment station reports. The fact 
is that each of the grains vary widely in their chemical an- 
alysis, and I have no practical means of ascertaining how 
near each kind of grain I buy approaches this average, nor, 
for that matter, how near or wide apart each lot is compared 
with the last. For this reason, I have of late paid no atten- 
tion to the actual figures bearing on nutritive value, except 
to accept the general fact that, for instance, bran figures 
about 1:4%, wheat 1:S, etc., framing any new hill of fare 
that I may compose on that basis, aiming to keep the whole 
ration approximately near to 1:3, which figures (based on 
averages) were the last I took the trouble to ascertain, and 
which has given me better results — fewer fat fowls and 
better digestion than any other, but it still leaves much to 
be desired. 

A. J. SILBERSTBIN. 



HOW TO OBTAIN EGGS IN WINTER. 



Notes from the Agricultural College, Ottawa, Canada— How Farmers Take Advantage of the 
Market— Egg Producing Rations and How to Feed Them. 



From Report of A. G. GILBERT, Experiment Station, Ottawa, Can. 



'ii 



(linnllITT"'"!! ^ WILL consider how our farmers can re- 
spond to the requirements of the different 
markets. In order to take advantage of 
their opportunities to make money by ob- 
taining the eggs in winter and the rapid 
flesh-forming chickens in early summer 
the farmers must be equipped with — 
First— The breed of fowls which will give him the eggs 
in winter and the rapid-growing chicks. 

Second— He must house, feed and properly handle the 
birds so as to get the eggs in winter. 

Third— He must properly care for and feed the chickens 
from the time of hatching until the salable age, particularly 
during the first five weeks of the chicken's life, during which 
critical period the future fowl is either made or marred. 

Why? Because during that period there is a drain on 
the system for not only rapidly growing bone sinew and 
muscle, but also for the rapidly growing feathers. We never 
see a hen wean her chickens until they are fully feathered 
and able to fight the battle of chicken life. 



Having chosen a breed, how can the farmer get eggs in 
winter? He must observe certain conditions. First, the 
hens must not be older than two years of age, and so man- 
aged as to be over their molt by the middle of October. It 
is an easy matter to keep the fowls of the proper age, and if 
the hens lay well in winter, they are likely to more easily 
molt early. An early molt may be secured if the hens are 
confined to runs by removing, at the beginning of July, the 
male birds to a separate building, and then allowing the 
hens to run in a field or part of a field where they can find 
grass and clover. At the same time their winter rations 
should be reduced one-half in quantity and so fed for two 
weeks. 

The effect of this will probably be to stop egg-produc- 
tion, which is desirable. At the end of two weeks the ordi- 
nary rations should be resumed. The response to this, in 
due course, should be the shedding of the old feath- 
ers and the appearance of the new feather sheaves 
and by the end of September or beginning of Octo- 
ber, very likely sooner, the hens should be over their molt 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



and ready to begin egg-laying by the end of October or be- 
ginning of November, when eggs are becoming higher in 
price. For November eggs I have been offered 40 cents per 
dozen by Mr. H. Gatehouse, the well-lvnown game and poultry 
dealer, of Dorchester Street, Montreal. All this necessitates 
some trouble on the part of the farmer, and so does the 
proper management of any department of his farm, which 
he is desirous to make a revenue producer. As managed in 
too many cases at present, the farmer's hens are over two 
years of age and his pullets are much too young. As a 
result their old hens molt during late fall or the winter sea- 
son, and consequently do not lay. for the molting season is 
really one of non-production. The young pullets do not 
mature in the cold weather, and do not lay until probably 
the following spring. 

Egg Producing Rations. 

Having a fairly comfortable house, hens of proper age 
and over their molt by the end of October, the following 
rations, such as used by ourselves and farmers, will be found 
effective in the production of eggs in winter. I give first 
the rations fed to our poultry during ihe past winter, which 
are as follows: 

To 110 hens, one to two years old — 

In the morning. S pounds of wheat. 

Noon. 5 pounds ground grain (measured dryi, made into 
mash. 

Afternoon, S pounds wheat or buckwheat. 

Three times per week, 8 pounds of cut bone were given 
in lieu of the mash. Mangels, pure water, grit and ground 
oyster shells were in abundant supply. Sometimes steamed 
lawn clippings took the place of the mangels. The ground 
grains for the mash, were two pounds of coarse ground oats, 
two pounds of corn meal, one pound of shorts. 

The reason for feeding the whole grain in the morning 
was that scattered in litter on the floors of the pens, the 
hens started at once to search for it, and exercise was so in- 
duced. The whole grain in he afternoon was calculated to 
send the fowls to roost with their crops fairly well filled. 
This grain was also scattered in the litter on the floor. 

To 150 pullets of different ages— 

For morning ration, 10 pounds of grain, principally 
wheat. 

Noon, 10 pounds of mash. 

Afternoon, 10 pounds of grain. 

Three times per week, 10 pounds of cut green bones, in 
place of the mash. The ground grains composing the mash 
were: Corn meal, it pounds; coarsely ground oats. 3 
pounds; shorts, 2 pounds. The essentials, such as roots, 
grit, oyster shells and pure water, were in regular supply. 
The reason for adopting the above method of feeding the 
pullets was the same as in the case of the hens. 

Calculating at least fall values the price of the rations 
is placed as follows: 

Rations for 110 hens four times a week: 

Sixteen pounds wheat at 75 cents per bushel 20 

Five pounds ground grains for mash 06 

Lime, grit and mangels, etc 03 

Total .- 29 

Other days: 

Sixteen pounds of wheat 20 

Bight pounds cut green bone at 1 cent 08 

Lime, grit and mangels 03 

To t a 1 ^ 



Rations for 150 pullets four times per week: 

Twenty pounds wheat ft 25 

Ten pounds mash 12 

Lime, grit, mangels, etc 03 

Total TTiO 

"When the mash was not fed it was replaced by ten 
pounds cut green bone at one cent per pound. 

The output of eggs during December, January and Feb- 
ruary, varied from four to five dozen per day. Sometimes in 
the latter part of January, or beginning with February, six 
dozen per day. These eggs were sold at 40 cents per dozen, 
and we could not supply nearly enough, giving a revenue 
per day of from ?1.60 to $2 and $2.40, at a cost of 65 to 70 
cents, leaving a fair margin of profit, during the months 
mentioned, from eggs alone. And it is to be remembered 
that the cost of rations included the hens which were non- 
productive during the winter season. 

But it may be said that it is easy for a government ex- 
perimental farm to secure such results. Well, let us see 
what a farmer has accomplished. Some time last summer 
I received a letter from Mr. William Moe, a farmer in 
Quebec, saying that he had made ?219 from 80 fowls in a 
year. I wrote him for particulars as to sort of rations fed 
and their cost, and received the following in reply: 

"The cost of keeping the 80 fowls, out of which I made 
$219 in one year, was for one year, $69.35, which deducted 
from $219, leaves a net balance of $149.65. This is not 
counting the eggs or dressed poultry used in our house. 

"The feed we gave the fowls was as follows: 

"Morning — Mash, composed of cut clover, potatoes or 
turnips, all boiled together, and rounded up firm with ground 
wheat or other ground grain. This was fed warm in winter. 

"Noon — ^Grain thrown in the litter on the floor of the 
scratching sheds. We have the scratching shed plan of 
house. We threw the grain in the litter to make the hens 
exercise in scratching for it. 

"Afternoon — A good feed of grain so as to send the birds 
to roost with their crops full. 

"We had green food in the shape of small apples and 
turnips. We had also grit, lime and pure water, before the 
layers all the time. We paid strict attention to the details, 
and kept strict account of expenses and receipts. We sold 
our eggs in Montreal during the winter, at 40 to 45 cents 
per dozen, and in summer at 15 cents per dozen. Chickens 
at 5S to 04 cents per pair. Our fowls are pure-bred. I do 
not believe in mongrels, for they do not make good winter 
layers. Much of this success is due to the help I received 
from my wife." 

The object of the scratching shed is to allow the fowls 
to get out for air and exercise during the winter months. 
If necessary, it is possible to have a curtain in the front, 
which can be pulled down in stormy weather. Our experi- 
mental work leads to the conclusion that the outdoor air 
and exercise tend to increase the strength of the germ in the 
eggs which are laid during the winter. 

The foregoing letter as coming from a farmer I consider 
valuable, and for that reason I bring it before your com- 
mittee. If Mr. Moe can succeed so well with careful man- 
agem.ent another farmer ought surely to do the same. A 
little calculation will show that Mr. Moe made his poultry 
pay very nearly $2 per head over cost of food; no mean mar- 
gin of profit. 

The following form of mash as used by a farmer in the 
vicinity of Brockville and described by him may be useful: 

Morning ration tor 250 hens and pullets: One and a 
quarter bushels of roots, pulped and made crumbly with 
provender. When provendw alone is used, boiled meat 

VM." 



>.^^ PROFITABILE 




'■•**'''^^^^rtii''.-.f 



ILGG FARMINGc 




POULTRY AND EGGS FOR MARKET. 



An Article Conveying as Much Valuable Information as Can Well be Given in the Space Occu- 
pied—Housing and Feeding— Farming and Fertility— $100 From a Berry Patch and as 
Much More Added to Value of Fowls That Ranged Beneath the Bushes. 



By H. J. BLANCHARD. 



"It will ce 
poultry keeping 



ell to raise poultry for eggs and market only and pay 






started and well under 



he fancy, as eggs 

llone."— H. J. BLANCHARD. 






' WILL certainly pay well to raise poultry for 
eggs and market only and pay no attention to 
the fancy, as eggs and meat are the prime ob- 
jects of poultry keeping. My own poultry busi- 
ness was started and well under way on this 
basis alone. 
In most markets fine fresh eggs pay much better than 
broilers or roasters, and the money comes in steadily the 
greater part of the year. 

It is well to start with only what fowls can be properly 
housed and cared for, and increase the number as experience 
and judgment prompt. A few fowls well kept will pay bet- 
ter than many when crowded and neglected. The ideal way 
to keep a large number of fowls is to treat each flock as if it 
were the only flock you possess. 

Eggs can be produced at a good profit in spring and 
summer because even though the price is then low, the cost 
of production corresponds. Winter egg production is highly 
profitable if properly managed. The requisites are warm, 
dry, ventilated houses, well selected food including succulent 
green stuff, and judicious exercise. Fancy new laid eggs 
usually sell best in a large city, and it would be well to 
locate within twelve hours' shipping distance of the market. 
Such a distance from the city would enable one to secure a 
suitable piece of land cheaply. The soil should be well 
drained naturally. Rough land will do just as well for the 
range, although some of the place should be good, tillable 
soil to enable the poultryman to raise a part at least of the 
food for the birds. 

For best results I favor the colony house, free range 
plan. Be sure to have houses far enough apart so that each 
flock gets plenty of range. This will make you more work 
in caring for the poultry, but you will be well paid for it. 
Feed just as well as you would if the birds were yarded and 
you will get better results. 



In my opinion, the best grain to grow on a poultry farm 
is corn. Plow under a liberal coating of manure from the 
hen houses or stable and give the crop thorough cultivation 
while it is young. Set your outdoor brooders near the corn 
field and let the young chicks have free range through it. 
This will afford them shade, and protection from hawks 
and crows, besides being a grand foraging ground for them. 
The birds also help to keep up the fertility of the soil. We ' 
think corn one of the very best foods for poultry, espe- 
cially when fed in connet'tlon with wheat. A blackberry 
patch is also a grand place for chickens to run in. It affords 
shade and protection all the season and in it the birds find a 
great many bugs and worms. The poultry also help to keep 
down the weeds. They seldom eat many of the berries, as 
they grow too high. All of our cull hens as well as one line 
of our breeders are yarded, and in most of the yards we have 
Snyder blackberries growing. How the hens do enjoy wal- 
lowing in the shade of these bushes, and what fine berries 
we get! Our half-acre blackberry patch this year netted 
us over $100 and I believe was worth nearly as much to the 
chicks. Another very important crop is mangel wurzels. 
We formerly used cabbages for winter green food, but found 
thera very difficult to keep late in the winter. Select a 
smooth, fairly level piece of ground, free from large stones, 
and early in the spring plow under a heavy coating of the 
cleanings from the hen houses. Harrow thoroughly until 
fine and mellow. Mark rows three feet apart, using a light 
marker. Then scatter a liberal amount of commercial fer- 
tilizer in the mark and mix with the soil by dragging a 
stick back and forth. Then sow the seed liberally and 
evenly as possible by hand in the mark left by the stick and 
cover about an inch with hoe or rake. We formerly used a 
seed drill for sowing our mangels, but found the hand 
method far more reliable. 

We feed these beets to our poultry by simply cutting in 



90 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



halves or large pieces wltli 
a shovel and placing on 
the floor. The birds love 
the sweet, juicy roots and 
will work at them until all 
is eaten but the sliin and 
frequently they consume 
that. The mangels should 
be harvested early in Oc 
tober before heavy freez 
ing by simply lifting from 
the ground with the hands 
and breaking (not cut- 
ting) off the top, drawing 
to a frost proof, well ven- 
tilated cellar, and piling in 
a corner or bin. We now 
have a pile seven feet deep 
in one of our cellars, and 
they will keep fresh, crisp 
and juicy until next sum- 
mer. 

Our breeding stock and 
the layers are all fed alike, 
corn, oats, buckwheat, and 
wheat, equal parts, being 
the morning and night 
food, with mash at noon. 
After over twenty years' 
experience in breeding and 
feeding White Leghorns 
we still believe in feeding 
them three times a day, 
with the mash at noon. 
White Leghorns are very 
active, and when fed judi- 
ciously three feeds a day 
are better than two. In 
the morning we give a 
very light ration of the 
mixed grains scattered in 
the litter on the floors. 




Colony Houses, Brooders, 

keeps them busy for 



This 

some time and gives them exercise. Next comes green 
food of some kind. Pure water is kept before them all day, 
and in cold weather the water is slightly warmed. Crushed 
oyster shell and grit in suita;ble places are accessible contin- 
ually. At noon comes the mash, the most important feed of 
the day. The hens have been busy nearly all the forenoon 
scratching for grain in the litter, picking at mangel beets 
or cabbages and taking an occasional drink from the water 
pan, and are happy and hungry. In summer time the mash 
is moistened with skim milk, buttermilk, etc., and in winter 
with hot water. The mash is made of ground corn, oats, 
peas and barley, mixed with an equal bulk of wheat bran, 
and to this is added about one and one-half pounds of old- 
process oilmeal and three pounds of prepared meat for each 
hundred hens. The whole is then mixed thoroughly while 
dry. No condiments are fed except a little salt dissolved 
and added to the mash. The whole is then moistened and 
fed crumbly in troughs. 

It is interesting to see the hens watch the doors and 
gates about feeding time, and when the mash Is carried in 
they will fly into the pail and even on the one carrying 
it. We feed all they will clean up and the amount they will 
eat varies greatly. Close observation enables us to determine 
about how much to feed. When the hens are laying heavily 
they usually eat a great deal more than when molting. 
Toward night they are fed all the mixed grain they can eat, 



ind Flocks that mean business on the Farm of H. J. Blanchanl. 

scattered in the straw, and take more exercise scratching 
for it. If the birds do not act very hungry their morning 
food is decreased until they show a proper appetite. 

The houses are made with straw loft, and are warm and 
dry in winter, being well ventilated by sliding windows on 
every possible occasion. In summer the windows are all 
open and slatted doors used to give all the ventilation possi- 
ble. Cleanliness, ventilation and kerosene keep these houses 
entirely free from lice. Some of the houses have a three- 
foot basement with ground floor, which is much appreciated 
by the hens, especially in hot weather. In winter each flock 
has a large box of fine road dust for bathing, which is often 
removed. The sanitation employed and the conditions sur- 
rounding these fowls, together with the method of feeding, 
render them very strong and vigorous. This, coupled with 
our method of selection in breeding, gives us typical laying 
stock. They have vigor and stamina to resist the usual dis- 
eases of poultry, and a good constitution to transmit to their 
offspring. 

Our incubators are started about the middle of March 
and brooder houses and brooders are put in shape for the 
chicks. When a hatch is off they are put in a warm brooder 
so arranged that they can get just the amount of heat they 
need. The first few days they are fed oatmeal and grit with 
water slightly warmed and are kept in the brooder. In a 
few days they are given a room 16x20 to run in, the floor 
being covered with chaff or other litter. The chicks are 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



91 



gradually led on to a diet of johnnycake made of ground 
corn, oats and wheat, oat hulls sifted out. The chicks are 
soon given a little whole wheat scattered in the litter on the 
floor of the brooder house. Soon as the weather permits the 
chicks are let out into the yards, which are long and grassy. 
After the chicks are done with the brooders and have 
learned to roost, they are given free range, and the pullets 
separated from cockerels. The chicks are now fed a mash 
with a very little meat in it and quantity of meat is very 
gradually increased until the pullets begin laying, at about 
Ave months of age. During the fall the old stock is gradu- 
ally sold for breeders and layers, and then the earliest pul- 
lets are put into the laying yards to take their places and 
supply our city market with eggs. We ship our eggs three 



times a week in summer and twice in winter, guaranteeing 
every egg to be new-laid. 

The poultryman is well equipped for keeping up soil fer- 
tility on his farm. The chicks and fowls on free range con- 
tribute greatly to this end, and the manure from the roosts, 
houses, brooders and coops if properly applied will keep his 
farm very fertile. 

Hen manure should never be stored, as it is bound to 
lose a large amount of the free nitrogen, besides being a 
difficult, laborious job. We always draw it direct to the 
fields and spread thinly on meadow or pasture, according 
to season, or spread on the land intended for corn or root 
crops, to be turned under in spring by the plow. 

H. J. BLANCHARD. 



[Mr. H. J. Blanchard, writer of the above article, is fully competent to write with autho 
now, and has been for some years, conducting one of the most successful poultry plants in tl 
standard-bred White Leghorns; indeed so careful has he been to keep up the grade of 
Blanchard.— Ed.] 



jbject of Poultry and Eggs for Market. He 



AN IMMENSE EGG FARM. 



Twenty-six Hundred Fowls Now Occupy Houses on the White Leghorn Poultry Yards, and 
Buildings are Being Erected to Accommodate Five Thousand Layers. 



By THEO. HEWES, in the Reliable Poultry Journal. 



IN ALL my travels I have never found a larger flock of 
strictly fancy Single Comb White Leghorns than 
was shown me by Mr. C. G. Brainard, proprietor of 
the White Leghorn Poultry Yards. I visited his 
plant October 4th and spent the entire day looking 
over the stock and the system of housing used on 
this, the greatest White Leghorn farm in America. Mr. 

Brainard has one of the finest 

poultry plants in this country 
and when completed we have 
no doubt it will be the largest 
of its kind in the world. Next 
to the big duclv ranches lo- 
cated in the east, where ducks 
are grown by the thousands, 
this White Leghorn farm, 
with its present stock of 
twenty-six hundred birds, 
comes next in point of size 
and interest. But instead of 
the slow movements of ducks, 
here we find birds that are 
alert, active and wide awake 
all the time. 

On the date of my visit 
several hundred head of the 
young stock, both male and 
female, were nearly matured, 
the pullets with combs and 
faces bright red and looking 

with keen eyes for secluded pj,, j 

nests, while the cockerels, with 

their typical carriage, the embodiment of activity, their up- 
right combs and brilliant white plumage, were a sight to do 
the fancier's heart good. 

It is seldom a breeder of any variety meets with the suc- 



cess in mating that Mr. Brainard did the past season with 
his Single Comb White Leghorns. Am free to say I never 
saw before so many good ones on one poultry farm. Here 
were to be seen literally in hundreds of specimens that long 
sought for combination that approaches perfection In this 
breed, namely, pure white plumage, with yellow legs, bay 
eyes and well .shaped five-point combs. Both males and 
females stood well 
upon their legs, 
showing to good ad- 
vantage the medium 
long bodies of the 
Leghorn egg types, 
with the tails of the 
males down at the 
proper angle and not 
carried high, as is 
often the case with 
this variety. 

All the foregoing desir- 
able points are strongly 
fixed in the White Leg- 
horn Poultry Yard strain 
and it would have been 
hard to find a poor speci- 
the entire lot. 
While this plant is built 
and conducted mainly for 
the production of fancy or 
thoroughbred stock, the 
commercial side of the 
business has not been 
overlooked and every egg not used in hatching is sold on 
the market. A regular trade has been established and sat- 
isfactory prices are obtained. From September 1 to March 
31, the regular price is 30 cents per dozen; from April 1st to 




92 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



September 1, 20 cents per dozen. These prices are readily 
secured for all eggs that can be supplied, hence Mr. Brain- 
ard is planning additions to his plant, to be made during the 
next twelve months, that will give the White Leghorn 
Poultry Yard a capacity of 5,000 layers. 

All eggs are shipped in special wooden boxes, with iaside 
cases holding one dozen each. A wooden box holds six of 
these one dozen cases. Figure 1 shows a box ready 
for shipment. Figure 2 shows the same box with the !id 
open. All boxes have a return card on them, hence may be 
used any number of times. 

Artificial Means Only. 

All stock produced in the White Leghorn Poultry Yards 
is hatched and raised by artificial means. Eight to twelve 
popular-make incubators are operated during the season 
with sati-sfactory results. The hot water overhead pipe 
brooding system is used and meets the requirements. Among 
the illustrations shown herewith is one (see figure 3), pre- 
senting an interior view of what is probably one of the best 
equipped and most successful brooder houses in the country. 
There are four out-go and four return pipes that pass under 
the continuous brooder; also three larger pipes around the 
walls of the entire building. This insures a comfortable 
temperature at all times for the interior of the house, while 
under the hover the temperature can be regulated to suit. 
Mr. Brainard informed me that they did not lose to exceed 
six per cent of all the chicks hatched the past season. Two 



more large brooding houses will be completed by November 
13th. The number of incubators ii^use will be about 
doubled. The same brooding system will be installed in the 
new houses. 

Figure 4 shows a partial view of the White Leghorn 
Poultry Yards, but neither this picture nor all that we show 
taken together, do justice by this plant. 

Figure 5 shows a flock of Single Comb White Leghorns, 
mostly pullets. This view was taken from one end of a large 
breeding house. 

Figure 6 shows an interior view of the pens. 
There is a solid partition fi-om floor to ceiling be- 
tween the hallway and pens and all outside walls are 
double boarded with building paper between. There are 
two double windows to each room. These houses are used 
for winter layers and house room will be completed by 
November 1st to accommodate 900 hens. Ten more houses 
of this size and style will be built as soon as the carpenters 
can get to it. This will make fourteen of these houses for 
laying hens, each 16x112 feet in dimensions, besides the 
many brood and laying houses on the farm. 

An attractive and encouraging feature of this enterprise is 
that the past season shows a neat balance on the right side 
of the ledger. When the plant is stocked as Mr. Brainard 
proposes to stock It, eggs will be shipped literally by the 
wagon load. Exact methods are followed day by day in 
caring for the flocks, so that correct figures can be given as 
to the cost of food, cost of labor and the amount of cash 
received from each and every pen of fowls. 




Feeding for Eggs and Marketing— How It Is Done on the White Leghorn Poultry Farm. 



By L. A. PECK. 



w 



PRODUCE eggs in quantity two things are nec- 
essary. First, a strain of fowls of the highest 
order as layers; second, scientific feeding and 
caring for the same in order to make them 
yield the largest possible quantity of eggs. 



several standard breeds were secured, but it took only one 
season to demonstrate the superiority of the Single Comb 
White Leghorn as an egg producer. It was therefore decided 
to keep this breed exclusively. We venture to say that at 
the present writing the Single Comb White Leghorn is rec- 



When our egg farm was first started fowls of ognized as the superior of all other breeds where prolific 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



93 



egg production is the s?ole or main reanirement. The report 
of Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, 
issued July, 1902, is conclusive on this point. Out of twelve 
entries the first six pens, with one exception, in point of 
egg production an'i also in point of profit on eggs, were Sin- 
gle Comb White Leghorns. The o^e exception was a pen 
composed partly of pure-bred White Leghorns, partly of 
White Wyandottes, and the remainder of a cross between the 
White Leghorn and the White Wyandotte. This pen stood 
second in the competition. 



Feeding; for Eggs. 



A statement of our method of feeding in detail may ne 
of interest to the reader. In the first place, we use only first 
quality grain. We feed wheat, corn, buckwheat, barley and 
oats. Wheat, corn and oats make up the larger portion of 
grain food. The price of these grains must be considered, 
and where other grains are cheaper they may be substituted. 
We feed grain twice a day, morning and evening, and always 



So much for getting the eggs, but for a profitable poul- 
try plant a second requirement is necessary, namely, proper 
marketing of the eggs produced. 



Marketing the Eggs. 



Successful marketing of poultry products depends upon 
the same principles as the marketing of any other product. 
To command high prices a superior article must be offerod. 
Therefore, the first consideration in the marketing of our 
eggs is to be absolutely sure that nothing but fresh eggs .xre 
shipped out and that they are always shipped in good con- 
dition. One shipment of poor eggs would do more damage 
to our trade than we could repair in a year's time. By the 
careful watchiug of every package which leaves our yards 
we have built up our trade, which consists mostly of private 
customers in large cities who are willing to pay good prices 
for a good article. In the first place, we are careful to see 







scatter it in a litter. A mash is fed at noon. The mash 
which we are using at present is made up as follows: TOO 
pounds each wheat bran, wheat middlings, corn meal, 
ground oats and beef scraps; 2.5 pounds Old Process iinsced 
meal. The composition of this mash is also varied accord- 
ing to the prices of grains entering into its composition. In 
the winter to this mixture should be added a small portion 
of cooked clover hay, potatoes or beets. It should be fed 
warm, but not hot. It should be mixed to a crumbly mash, 
bin should not be sloppy. For green food we use in the 
winter cabbage, beets and steamed clover hay; in summer, 
clover, beets and lettuce. In addition to this the fowls have 
constant access to oyster shells and pure water. The water 
is given cold in the summer and warm In the winter. The 
feed, of course, is varied considerably in accordance with 
the different seasons. In the summer less corn is fed, and 
more green food, during molting, more meat and oil meal 
and other things which will produce growth in plum.age. 
Besides careful feeding much care has to be exercised 
in keeping the poultry houses well ventilated and perfectly 
clean. Fowls will not lay well unless properly cared tor. 
Ventilation must be secured without direct drafts. Our 
system of houses and ventilation is described in the tore- 
going article. 



that eggs are always clean before packed. In order to have 
eggs clean the houses must be clean. If eggs happen to be 
dirty they are washed before being marketed. 

The accompanying illustration shows our method of 
packing. Each dozen eggs is packed in a carton with our 
name upon it and these cartons packed in 3, 6, 12 or 24-dozen 
crates made so that the boxes will exactly fit. We find it is 
a great help to the marketing of our eggs to have them 
appear well and to have them packed in such a way that 
the purchaser will have little trouble in handling them. 

In conclusion, we quote statistics from the Bulletin of 
Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station referred 
to above. In this egg competition we entered 150 pullets. 
the competition lasting from December 1st through March 
31st, the year 1901-2. The total number of eggs produced 
was 5,066. On an average these eggs, according to the mar- 
ket price of that season of the year, were worth $111.86. 
The market price ranged between twenty-two and twenty- 
eight cents. During that period the profit upon these eggs 
at market price was $65.35, but as a matter of fact these 
eggs were sold at forty cents per dozen; that is, an average 
of fifteen cents more than the figures given by the Cornell 
University Bulletin. Therefore, our profit on 150 birds for 
these four months was $120.65. 



THE GREATEST EGG FARM IN THE WORLD. 



The Stor/ of Seven Thousand Hens in Six Hundred Houses— A History of the Plant and How 

It Is Operated — A Business That Has Doubled in Ten Years— Stock Changed 

from Free Range to the Confinement Plan. 



By A. F. HUNTER, Associate Editor of the Reliablp Poultry Journal. 




EVEN THOUSAND hens on one farm makes 
that certainly the largest egg farm in the 
world, and that it is purely and solely an 
egg farm is proved by the fact that no chick- 
ens are raised there; not any of the seven 
thousand layers being raised by Mr. Hayward 
himself — all are bought each year. It certainly is 
a remarkable story, and different from anything else, 
different from the story of every other poultry farm 
of which I have knowledge, — and I have visited a great 
many of them. This remarkable egg farm is owned and 
operated by Mr. C. E. L. Hayward and is located in a small 
town of New Hampshire, about sixty-two miles from Bos- 




, 5— Fl. 



-Cocke 



ton. There is a good deal of up and down hill to many New 
Hampshire towns, and the road to Mr. Hayward's farm has 
so much of ihe up and down to it that heavy loads must be 
dlfificult to draw and the three miles' haul over such a road 
must considerably increase the cost of the about a ton of 
grain per day fed to the flocks. I visited the farm in winter 
some ten years ago. and Mr. Hayward has not only more 
than doubled his poultry business, but has made one decided 
change in method. At that time the farm was run on the 
free-range plan, the birds being given free range after a 
few days' confinement had wonted them to their quarters; 
now they are kept in close confinement, the birds never 
going out of their houses (after being put in in the autumn) 
until they are sold off to market to make room for the suc- 
ceeding flocks. One reservation should be permitted in this 
general statement. The brood-coops (for breaking up the 
broodies) sit on the ground outside and in front of each 
house, and persistently broody birds are put out in these 
coops for a few days, until broken of the desire to incubate, 
then returned to the house again; by so much they are not 



closely confined to the houses, but to all intents and pur- 
poses the general statement is correct. 

Another decidedly remarkable thing about Mr. Hay- 
ward's methods is that the houses are quite open to the 
weather, and are open just the same summer and winter. 
They have lots of snow in New Hampshire in winter; I have 
seen three feet depth of it! They sometimes have 
very cold weather in New Hampshire. I have seen 
it twenty-severt degrees below zero there, and yet- 
there is a great poultry farm, with the fowls kept for egg 
production, the fowls being housed in small flocks in houses 
the fronts of which are fully half open and the birds exposed 
to the rigors of a New Hampshire winter; we will describe 
the method first, however, 
and discuss it afterwards. 

The houses are alike as to 
plan, being eight feet square 
on the ground and built exact- 
ly like the "A" tents that 
some of us slept in in 1861-65. 
The floor is of two thick- 
nesses of boards laid so as to 
break joints, and there is no 
frame whatever. There is a 
square base some fifteen 
inches high made of two-inch 
thick planks, then the roof 
boards, cut eight feet long, 
nailed to the base and thj 
inch-board ridge pole. The 
back (north) end is boarded 
up solid, while the front end 
is boarded up about fifteen to 
eighteen inches and down from 
the apex of the roof about 
eighteen inches (to give suffi- 
cient stiffness), and the balance is just sufficient board- 
ing to make a door with a frame to hang and hasp it to; all 
the open space is covered with inch-mesh wire netting, which 
effectually excludes "varmints," but freely admits the air. 
The earlier houses were board roofs battened, then a hun- 
dred or two were built with roofs and backs covered with 
corrugated iron or some of the special roofing papers, but the 
latter were not satisfactorily durable and the corrugated iron 
drew the sun and made the houses uncomfortably hot in 
summer. In recent years the houses are being built with 
roofs and back walls shingled, and as the earlier roofs need 
repairs they are being shingled also, so that shingled roofs 
and back walls will soon be the rule; in a country where 
hemlock, spruce and second-growth pine shingles are so 
cheap as there in New Hampshire it is almost surprising 
that shingles were not adopted sooner. 

The houses rest upon four small stones, one at each cor- 
ner, to bring the floors up from the damp ground; in that 
country there is much frost, and the freezing-thawing of the 
ground causes these foundation stones to sink into the 



Poultry 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



95 



ground, gradually. We found two of the men busy prying 
up some of the houses and adding bricks to the foundations, 
to lift them up again and prevent the floors rotting. 

The inside furniture of these houses is of the simplest. 
At the back and about three feet above the floor two roost 
poles are set, about a foot space between them and the rear 
one about six inches out from the wall. There are two small 
nest boxes, one in each front corner; a small box (about ten 
inches square by six inches deep) for the food, another for 
crushed oyster shells and a dust box about two feet square 
by eight inches deep. The water pan is outside, at the back 
corner, with a small gutter to convey the drip from one eave 
to it in rainy weather, and an aperture 2x4 inches gives the 
fowls room to put the head out and drink. The pan is of 
cast iron, is about ten inches square by five inches deep and 
is emptied and carefully rinsed out once a week. This ar- 
rangement of water pan and gutter entirely avoids watering 
in rainy weather; and in win- 
ter, when there is snow on the 
ground, a shovelful of snow is 
put in each house for tli^^ 
fowls to eat. In answer to our 
exclamation of surprise, Mr. 
Hayward said the snow diii 
not seem to hurt them any, 
that it was the simplest ami 
easiest way to water i v • 
them, and that they would <ai 
snow if 'running out of doors 
— this last point will be read- 
ily understood by those who 
have observed . fowls when 
they get access to snow. The 
broody coops were about two 
feet square, with a board floor 
and roof and slat sides. A 
small pan of water and a dish 
of food is set on a board in 
front of each coop, and the 
prisoners reach their heads 
through the slats to eat and 
drink; th.?se broody coops are 
set on the ground a little in 
front of each house. 

In the account which we M...11.— interior \ic' 

wrote of our visit to Mr. Hay- 
ward's farm in '92 we gave the cost of these houses as 
eight dollars each. That, however, was before the roofs and 
back walls were shingled and we would estimate the cost of 
the present houses at ten dollars each. At the cost of lum- 
ber at the present time this may be a bit too low, but the 
poorer grades of lumber are cheap in New Hampshire. These 
houses are set about two rods apart and (where the ground 
favors) in rows, which are about four rods apart. Some- 
times stones or trees interfere with exact distances, but these 
are approximately correct. With twelve birds in a house it 
takes nearly six hundred houses for the seven thousand 
birds. A pathway for wheelbarrow runs alongside each long 
row of houses and a road for a horse and wagon along the 
ends of the rows. The food is put upon a cart and hauled 
along the roadway, a stop at end of each row being made to 
load the wheelbarrow for one or two rows; there are eight 
to ten men employed, and each man has his group of houses 
to feed and water and take care of. 

The fowls are fed twice a day, the morning feed being 
a mash, of which enough is fed to last for the birds to pick 
at till noon; the afternoon feed is usually wheat and occa- 
sionally corn. At time of my visit they were feeding 



scorched (or damaged) wheat, from a burned elevator. This 
scorched wheat cost only $15 a ton on the track, and Mr. 
Hayward said the fowls ate it well and he could not see but 
that they laid as well as if fed the best of wheat. The morn- 
ing mash is made up of a mixture of five hundred pounds 
mixed feed (wheat middlings), two hundred pounds corn 
meal, two hundred pounds beef scraps, one hundred pounds 
meat meal (making half a ton), two bushels cut clover, four 
quarts salt. The meals, scrap, etc., are all mixed together 
and got ready the night before, the salt dissolved in water 
and cut clover put to soak in water; before feeding the mash 
is made up by mixing with water, warm in winter and cold 
in summer, until the mess is moistened and is "crumbly" 
but not wet enough to be sloppy, and it is not "cooked" nor 
even scalded. It is upon the meat element in the above mix- 
ture that Mr. Hayward i-elies for eggs, his expression being. 
"It's the meat tliat makes the eggs." That this is not Ihr 




stock and Laying House- on White Leghorn PouUry Yards. 

most completely "balanced" raion will be conceded, but its 
results are satisfactory to Mr. Hayward; the fact that he 
is still enlarging his plant and increasing his business is 
sufficient proof of that —he intends to increase to eight thou- 
sand birds next winter. 

We mentioned that Mr. Hayward does not raise his lay- 
ing stock. He has the pullets hatched and raised for him by 
arrangement with farmers in Vermont and New Hampshire, 
chiefly in Vermont we surmised. We recalled having seen 
his advertisements of "pullets wanted" a few years ago and 
he said he did not have to advertise now, that he could 
arrange beforehand and for all that he would need. He sells 
off the old birds in the fall of the year, selling them mostly 
to market, although he said he was having a considerable 
sale for these year-and-a-half old birds for layers; as he 
buys the nearly mature pullets at a per pound price and they 
increase in weight somewhat in the course of a year, he 
doubtless gets about as much as he paid for them. When 
asked if he averaged to make a dollar apiece profit, Mr. 
Hayward replied: "No, not quite so much as that," and in 
reply to questions about the health of the flocks that are 
kept in such close confinement, he said he never had a 



)uN 29 I9U3 



96 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 



frosted comb, or any such trouble, that he lost now and then 
a bird (by death), perhaps ten to twelve per cent, but as 
that was a common experience to every one who kept fowls, 
he did not let that trouble him. This statement as to losses 
was corroborated by two of the men on the place with whom 
we talked. They paid it was the practice to dig a pit in the 
fall at some convenient place in the woods, throw the dead 
hens in it along through 'the winter, and in the spring bury 
them with the earth that had been thrown out. A man who 
keeps a couple of dozen hens does not trouble himself much 
if two or three of them die at different times during the 
winter, and the loss of two or three out of two dozen is sub- 
stantially the same proportion as the loss of seven luindred 
to nine hundred out of seven thousand. Such a mortality 
looks to be a tremendous loss when we go into the big fig- 
ures: of course it is a heavy loss, say three or four hundred 
dollars' worth of poultry meat, 
but the per cent of deaths is 
the same as that of the man 
who has two or three die out 
of his iJock of two dozen. 

The droppings are cleaned 
out of the houses twice a year, 
fall and spring; once a week 
(or thereabouts) a Shovelful 
of dry earth is scattered over 
the droppings in each house 
and the piles left to accumu- 
late till the next cleaning. 
There was here and there a 
flock with some evidence of 
feather eating, but, as a whole 
the birds looked hearty and 
healthy; quite as much so as 
the average flocks one will see 
on farms where they have out- 
side runs. It ought to be 
mentioned that two of the 
causes of the losses by 
death mentioned above were 
that sometimes three or 
four birds would pile on 

top of one that clung .sivioico 

persistently tothenest 

and the one at the bottom would be smothered, and that now 
and then a bird would be pecked by its mates until the blood 
was started and tiien they would pitch upon it and peck it to 
death. We have known a flock of turkeys to set upon one 
of their number and peck and worry it to death, but think 
such "lynchings" are comparatively rare amongst chickens. 

We asked some of the men if the egg-eating vice trou- 
bled them and could get no acknowledgment that it did, but 
as the houses are visited but twice a day and then but for 
a moment to each it is possible that quite a few eggs might 
disappear in that way without their knowledge. The fact 
that there was an egg lying out on the floor in each of four 
of the houses we looked into and two eggs outside the nest 
boxes in one house would make it easy to suspect egg-eating. 
Their accidentally stepping upon and breaking an egg on the 
hard floor of the pen would cause that egg to be eaten in- 
stantly and the step from accidentally breaking and eating 
to purposely breaking and eating is verj' easy. 

As would be expected in such a case, the stock is mostly 
the common farm scrubs — or "dunghills," with a preponder- 



ance of Leghorn blood in it. but here and there in the houses 
we looked into, some fairish Barred Plymouth Rocks were 
to be seen; this fact is signiflcant of the widespread popular- 
ity of that variety and bears out the claim of a well-known 
poultryman, that the Barred Rock is the most generally pop- 
ular variety of fowls in America. If he had said "New Eng- 
land," he would probably have been right. 

In such a hill country as New Hampshire the water 
problem is simple. Mr. Hayward has a reservoir built up be- 
tween the hills and water is piped to house, barn, engine 
and cook room, and various parts of the poultry plant, where 
simply opening a cock gives abundant supply. A fifteen- 
horse power engine and boiler supply power for cutting 
clover and cutting up poor quality hay for the nests, for 
grinding grain or cracking corn, and for running the eleva- 
tor which carries the grain up to the huge bins above the 




cook room. These bins hold five thousand bushels of grain. 
The teams drawing the grain from the cars drive into the 
barn alongside the chute which conveys the grain into a pit. 
from which the elevator lifts it to the bins; of these there 
are three, with spouts leading down to the hopper of the 
grinding mill or into the wagon which is to convey it to the 
feed bins distributed at convenient points for the men to get 
their supply. Turning a crank till the indicator points to 
1. '2 or 3 opens the spout of bin 1, 2 or 3 and the driver does 
.not have to stir from his tracks to load with the kind of 
grain he wants. The home farm is the one on which Mr. 
Hayward was born and has always lived, but he has added 
other farms to his holdings until he now owns some eight 
hundred acres of land, a considerable portion of which is 
in wood and timber, and quite a bit of it in orchard. Apples 
are an important crop in New Hampshire, and Mr. Hayward 
has about 7,000 apple trees on his farms, six thousand of 
which are Baldwins. He calls his business "Poultry and 
Fruit Farming." and that rocky-hilly land makes an excel- 
lent location for that excellent combination. 



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